BY    CLEVELAND    MOFFETT 


ABOUT  NOON  ON  THE  DAY  OF  CAPITULATION,  MAY 
25,  1921,  A  DETACHMENT  OF  GERMAN  SOLDIERS 
MARCHED  QUIETLY  UP  BROADWAY,  TURNED  INTO 
WALL  STREET,  AND  STOPPED  OUTSIDE  THE  BANKING 
HOUSE  OF  J.  P.  MORGAN  &  COMPANY. 


A  Romance  of  Disaster  and 
Victory:  U.  S.  A.,  1921  A.  D. 

BASED  ON  EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  DIARY 
OF  JAMES  E.  LANGSTON,  WAR  CORRE 
SPONDENT  OF  THE  "LONDON  TIMES" 

BY 

CLEVELAND  MOFFETT 

AUTHOR  OF  "THROUGH  THE  WALL,"  'THE  BATTLE,'? 

"CAREERS  OF  DANGER  AND  DARING.'! 

ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1916, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 
COPYRIGHT,  1915,  1916,  BY  THE  McCLURE  PUBLICATIONS,  INC. 


Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  a  people  cometh  from  the 
north  country;  and  a  great  nation  shall  be  stirred  up  from 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  They  lay  hold  on  bow  and 
spear;  they  are  cruel,  and  have  no  mercy;  their  voice  roareth 
like  the  sea,  and  they  ride  upon  horses;  every  one  set  in 
array,  as  a  man  to  the  battle,  against  thee,  0  daughter  ofZion. 

Jeremiah  6:  22,  23. 


They  seemed  as  men  that  lifted  up 

Axes  upon  a  thicket  of  trees. 

And  now  all  the  carved  work  thereof  together 

They  break  down  with  hatchet  and  hammers. 

They  have  set  thy  sanctuary  on  fire; 

They  have  profaned  the  dwelling  place  of  thy  name  even  to 
the  ground. 

They  said  in  their  heart,  Let  us  make  havoc  of  them  alto 
gether: 

They  have  burned  up  all  the  synagogues  of  God  in  the  land. 

Psalms  74:  5-8. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACK 

To  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 13 

I.    I  WITNESS  THE  BLOWING  UP  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL      31 

II.    AMERICAN  AEROPLANES  AND  SUBMARINES  BATTLE 

DESPERATELY  AGAINST  THE  GERMAN  FLEET  .     .      42 

III.  GERMAN  INVADERS  DRIVE  THE  IRON  INTO  THE  SOUL 

OP  UNPREPARED  AMERICA 63 

IV.  INVASION  OP  LONG  ISLAND  AND  THE  BATTLE  OF 

BROOKLYN 58 

V.    GENERAL  VON  HINDENBURG  TEACHES  NEW  YORK 

CITY  A  LESSON 67 

VI.    VARIOUS  UNPLEASANT  HAPPENINGS  IN  MANHATTAN      76 

VII.  NEW  HAVEN  Is  PUNISHED  FOR  RIOTING  AND  IN 
SUBORDINATION  87 

VIII.  I  HAVE  A  FRIENDLY  TALK  WITH  THE  GERMAN 
CROWN  PRINCE  AND  SECURE  A  SENSATIONAL  IN 
TERVIEW  95 

IX.    BOSTON  OFFERS  DESPERATE  AND  BLOODY  RESIST 
ANCE  TO  THE  INVADERS 109 

X.    LORD  KITCHENER  VISITS  AMERICA  AND  DISCUSSES 

OUR  MILITARY  PROBLEMS 119 

XI.    HEROIC  ACT  OF  BARBARA  WEBB  SAVES  AMERICAN 

ARMY  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  TRENTON      ....     126 

XII.  REAR  ADMIRAL  THOMAS  Q.  ALLYN  WEIGHS  CHANCES 
OP  THE  AMERICAN  FLEET  IN  IMPENDING  NAVAL 
BATTLE 135 

XIII.    THE  GREAT  NAVAL  BATTLE  OP  THE  CARIBBEAN  SEA    142 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 


PHILADELPHIA'S  FIRST  CITY  TROOPS  DIE  IN  DE 
FENCE  OF  THE  LIBERTY  BELL 151 

THRILLING  INCIDENT  AT  WANAMAKER'S  STORE 
WHEN  GERMANS  DISHONOUR  AMERICAN  FLAG  . 

AN  AMERICAN  GIRL  BRINGS  NEWS  THAT  CHANGES 
THE  COURSE  OF  THE  MOUNT  VERNON  PEACE  CON 
FERENCE 


159 


170 


THOMAS  A.  EDISON  MAKES  A  SERIOUS  MISTAKE  IN 
ACCEPTING  A  DINNER  INVITATION 

I  WITNESS  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  SUSQUEHANNA  FROM 
VINCENT  ASTOR'S  AEROPLANE 

GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES  ANOTHER  BRILLIANT  SUC 
CESS  AGAINST  THE  CROWN  PRINCE 


179 


189 


204 


XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX.     THIRD  BATTLE  OF  BULL  RUN  WITH  AEROPLANES 

CARRYING  LIQUID  CHLORINE 215 

XXI.    THE  AWAKENING  OF  AMERICA 230 

XXII.    ON  CHRISTMAS  EVE  BOSTON  THRILLS  THE  NATION 

WITH  AN  ACT  OF  MAGNIFICENT  HEROISM  .     .     .     238 

XXIII.  CONFESSIONS  OF  AN  AMERICAN  SPY  AND  BRAVERY 

OP  BUFFALO  SCHOOLBOYS 246 

XXIV.  NOVEL  ATTACK  OF  AMERICAN  AIRSHIP  UPON  GER 

MAN  SUPER-DREADNOUGHT 259 

XXV.    DESPERATE  EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  THOMAS  A.  EDISON 

FROM  THE  GERMANS 268 

XXVI.    RIOTS  IN  CHICAGO  AND  GERMAN  PLOT  TO  RESCUE 

THE  CROWN  PRINCE 283 

XXVII.    DECISIVE  BATTLE  BETWEEN  GERMAN  FLEET  AND 

AMERICAN  SEAPLANES  CARRYING  TORPEDOES     .     294 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

ABOUT  NOON  ON  THE  DAY  OF  CAPITULATION,  MAY  25,  1921, 
A  DETACHMENT  OF  GERMAN  SOLDIERS  MARCHED  UNOB 
SERVED  UP  BROADWAY,  TURNED  INTO  WALL  STREET,  AND 
STOPPED  OUTSIDE  THE  BANKING  HOUSE  OF  J.  P.  MORGAN 

&  COMPANY FRONTISPIECE 

MM 

As  THE  GERMAN  LANDING  OPERATIONS  PROCEEDED,  THE  NEWS 
OF  THE  INVASION  SPREAD  OVER  THE  WHOLE  REGION  WITH 
THE  SPEED  OF  ELECTRICITY.  THE  ENEMY  WAS  COMING! 
THE  ENEMY  WAS  HERE!  WHAT  WAS  TO  BE  DONE?  .  .  50 

THEN,  FACING  INEXORABLE  NECESSITY,  GENERAL  WOOD 
ORDERED  His  ENGINEERS  TO  BLOW  UP  THE  BRIDGES  AND 
FLOOD  THE  SUBWAYS  THAT  LED  TO  MANHATTAN.  IT  WAS 
AS  IF  THE  VAST  STEEL  STRUCTURE  OF  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE 
HAD  BEEN  A  THING  OF  LACE.  IN  SHREDS  IT  FELL,  A  TORN, 
TRAGICALLY  WRECKED  PIECE  OF  MAGNIFICENCE  ...  90 

THE  PEOPLE  KNEW  THE  ANSWER  OF  VON  HINDENBURG.  THEY 
HAD  READ  IT,  AS  HAD  ALL  THE  WORLD  FOR  MILES  AROUND, 
IN  THE  CATACLYSM  OF  THE  PLUNGING  TOWERS.  NEW  YORK 
MUST  SURRENDER  OR  PERISH! 130 

GERMAN  GUNS  DESTROY  THE  HOTEL  TAFT 170 

"You  KNOW,  MARK  TWAIN  WAS  A  GREAT  FRIEND  OF  MY 
FATHER'S,"  SAID  THE  CROWN  PRINCE.  "I  REMEMBER  How 
MY  FATHER  LAUGHED,  ONE  EVENING  AT  THE  PALACE  IN 
BERLIN,  WHEN  MARK  TWAIN  TOLD  Us  THE  STORY  OF  'THE 
JUMPING  FROG.'  " 210 

AND  ON  THE  MORNING  OF  JULY  4,  Two  OF  VON  KLUCK'S 
STAFF  OFFICERS,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  A  MILITARY  ESCORT, 
MARCHED  DOWN  STATE  STREET  TO  ARRANGE  FOR  THE  PAY- 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAOB 

MENT  OF  AN  INDEMNITY  FROM  THE  ClTY  OF  BOSTON  OF  THKEB 
HUNDRED  MILLION  DOLLARS 250 

"Mr  FRIENDS,  THEY  SAY  PATRIOTISM  Is  DEAD  IN  THIS  LAND. 
THEY  SAY  WE  ARE  EATEN  UP  WITH  LOVE  OF  MONEY, 
TAINTED  WITH  A  YELLOW  STREAK  THAT  MAKES  Us 
AFRAID  TO  FIGHT.  IT'S  A  LIE!  I  AM  SIXTY  YEARS  OLD, 
BUT  I'LL  FIGHT  IN  THE  TRENCHES  WITH  MY  FOUR  SONS 
BESIDE  ME,  AND  You  MEN  WILL  Do  THE  SAME.  AM  I 
RIGHT?"  .290 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 


THE  CONQUEST  OF 
AMERICA 

TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

THE  purpose  of  this  story  is  to  give  an  idea  of 
what  might  happen  to  America,  being  defenceless  as 
at  present,  if  she  should  be  attacked,  say  at  the  close 
ot  the  great  European  war,  by  a  mighty  and  vic 
torious  power  like  Germany.  It  is  a  plea  for  mili 
tary  preparedness  in  the  United  States. 

As  justifying  this  plea  let  us  consider  briefly  and 
in  a  fair-minded  spirit  the  arguments  of  our  pacifist 
friends  who,  being  sincerely  opposed  to  military 
preparedness,  would  bring  us  to  their  way  of  think 
ing. 

On  June  10,  1915,  in  a  statement  to  the  American 
people,  following  his  resignation  as  Secretary  of 
State,  William  Jennings  Bryan  said: 

Some  nation  must  lead  the  world  out  of  the  black 
night  of  war  into  the  light  of  that  day  when 
"swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plow-shares."  Why 
not  make  that  honour  ours?  Some  day — why  not 
now? — the  nations  will  learn  that  enduring  peace 
cannot  be  built  upon  fear — that  good-will  does  not 

13 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

grow  upon  the  stalk  of  violence.  Some  day  the 
nations  will  place  their  trust  in  love,  the  weapon 
for  which  there  is  no  shield;  in  love,  that  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind;  in  love,  that  is  not  easily  pro 
voked,  that  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things;  in  love, 
which,  though  despised  as  weakness  by  the  wor 
shippers  of  Mars,  abideth  when  all  else  fails. 

These  are  noble  words.  They  thrill  and  inspire  us 
as  they  have  thrilled  and  inspired  millions  before 
us,  yet  how  little  the  world  has  seen  of  the  actual 
carrying  out  of  their  beautiful  message!  The  aver 
age  individual  in  America  still  clings  to  whatever 
he  has  of  material  possessions  with  all  the  strength 
that  law  and  custom  give  him.  He  keeps  what  he 
has  and  takes  what  he  can  honourably  get,  uncon 
cerned  by  the  fact  that  millions  of  his  fellow  men  are 
in  distress  or  by  the  knowledge  that  many  of  the  rich 
whom  he  envies  or  honours  may  have  gained  their 
fortunes,  privilege  or  power  by  unfair  or  dishonest 
means. 

In  every  land  there  are  similar  extremes  of  pov 
erty  and  riches,  but  these  could  not  exist  in  a  world 
governed  by  the  law  of  love  or  ready  to  be  so  gov 
erned,  since  love  would  destroy  the  ugly  train  of 
hatreds,  arrogances,  miseries,  injustices  and  crimes 
that  spread  before  us  everywhere  in  the  existing 
social  order  and  that  only  fail  to  shock  us  because 
we  are  accustomed  to  a  regime  in  which  self-interest 
rather  than  love  or  justice  is  paramount. 
14 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

My  point  is  that  if  individuals  are  thus  univer 
sally,  or  almost  universally,  selfish,  nations  must  also 
be  selfish,  since  nations  are  only  aggregations  of  in 
dividuals.  If  individuals  all  over  the  world  to-day 
place  the  laws  of  possession  and  privilege  and  power 
above  the  law  of  love,  then  nations  will  inevitably 
do  the  same.  If  there  is  constant  jealousy  and 
rivalry  and  disagreement  among  individuals  there 
will  surely  be  the  same  among  nations,  and  it  is  idle 
for  Mr.  Bryan  to  talk  about  putting  our  trust  in  love 
collectively  when  we  do  nothing  of  the  sort  individu 
ally.  Would  Mr.  Bryan  put  his  trust  in  love  if  he 
felt  himself  the  victim  of  injustice  or  dishonesty? 

Once  in  a  century  some  Tolstoy  tries  to  practise 
literally  the  law  of  love  and  non-resistance  with  re 
sults  that  are  distressing  to  his  family  and  friends, 
and  that  are  of  doubtful  value  to  the  community. 
We  may  be  sure  the  nations  of  the  world  will  never 
practise  this  beautiful  law  of  love  until  average  citi 
zens  of  the  world  practise  it,  and  that  time  has  not 
come. 

Of  course,  Mr.  Bryan's  peace  plan  recognises  the 
inevitability  of  quarrels  or  disagreements  among 
nations,  but  proposes  to  have  these  settled  by  arbi 
tration  or  by  the  decisions  of  an  international  tri 
bunal,  which  tribunal  may  be  given  adequate  police 
power  in  the  form  of  an  international  army  and 
navy. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  such  a  plan  of  world 
federation  and  world  arbitration  involves  universal 

15 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

disarmament,  all  armies  and  all  navies  must  be  re 
duced  to  a  merely  nominal  strength,  to  a  force  suffi 
cient  for  police  protection,  but  does  any  one  believe 
that  this  plan  can  really  be  carried  out?  Is  there 
the  slightest  chance  that  Russia  or  Germany  will 
disarm?  Is  there  the  slightest  chance  that  England 
will  send  her  fleet  to  the  scrap  heap  and  leave  her 
empire  defenceless  in  order  to  join  this  world  federa 
tion?  Is  there  the  slightest  chance  that  Japan,  with 
her  dreams  of  Asiatic  sovereignty,  will  disarm? 

And  if  the  thing  were  conceivable,  what  a  grim 
federation  this  would  be  of  jealousies,  grievances, 
treacheries,  hatreds,  conflicting  patriotisms  and  am 
bitions — Russia  wanting  Constantinople,  France 
Alsace-Lorraine,  Germany  Calais,  Spain  Gibraltar, 
Denmark  her  ravished  provinces,  Poland  her  national 
integrity  and  so  on.  Who  would  keep  order  among 
the  international  delegates?  Who  would  decide 
when  the  international  judges  disagreed?  Who 
would  force  the  international  policemen  to  act 
against  their  convictions?  Could  any  world  tribunal 
induce  the  United  States  to  limit  her  forces  for  the 
prevention  of  a  yellow  immigration  from  Asia? 

General  Homer  Lea  in  "The  Valour  of  Ignorance" 
says: 

Only  when  arbitration  is  able  to  unravel  the 
tangled  skein  of  crime  and  hypocrisy  among  indi 
viduals  can  it  be  extended  to  communities  and  na 
tions,  as  nations  are  only  man  in  the  aggregate, 
they  are  the  aggregate  of  his  crimes  and  deception 
16 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

and  depravity,  and  so  long  as  these  constitute  the 
basis  of  individual  impulse,  so  long  will  they  con 
trol  the  acts  of  nations. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  president  emeritus  of  Har 
vard  University  and  trustee  of  the  Carnegie  Peace 
Foundation,  makes  this  admission  in  The  Army  and 
Navy  Journal: 

I  regret  to  say  that  international  or  national  dis 
armament  is  not  taken  seriously  by  the  leaders  and 
thinking  men  of  the  more  important  peoples,  and  I 
fear  that  for  one  reason  or  another  neither  the 
classes  nor  the  masses  have  much  admiration  for 
the  idea  or  would  be  willing  to  do  their  share  to 
bring  it  about. 

Here  is  the  crux  of  the  question,  the  earth  has  so 
much  surface  and  to-day  this  is  divided  up  in  a; 
certain  way  by  international  frontiers.  Yesterday  it 
was  divided  up  in  a  different  way.  To-morrow  it 
will  again  be  divided  up  in  a  new  way,  unless  some 
world  federation  steps  in  and  says:  "Stop!  There 
are  to  be  no  more  wars.  The  present  frontiers  of 
the  existing  fifty-three  nations  are  to  be  considered 
as  righteously  and  permanently  established.  After 
this  no  act  of  violence  shall  change  them." 

Think  what  that  would  mean!  It  would  mean 
that  nations  like  Russia,  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  which  happened  to  possess  vast  do 
minions  when  this  world  federation  peace  plan  was 

17 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

adopted  would  continue  to  possess  vast  dominions, 
while  other  nations  like  Italy,  Greece,  Turkey,  Hol 
land,  Sweden,  France,  Spain  (all  great  empires 
once),  Germany  and  Japan,  whose  present  share  of 
the  earth's  surface  might  be  only  one-tenth  or  one- 
fiftieth  or  one-five-hundredth  as  great  as  Russia's 
share  or  Great  Britain's  share,  would  be  expected  to 
remain  content  with  that  small  portion. 

Impossible!  These  less  fortunate,  but  not  less 
aspiring  nations  would  never  agree  to  such  a  policy 
of  national  stagnation,  to  such  a  stifling  of  their 
legitimate  longings  for  a  "greater  place  in  the  sun." 
They  would  point  to  the  pages  of  history  and  show 
how  small  nations  have  become  great  and  how  em 
pires  have  fallen.  What  was  the  mighty  United 
States  of  America  but  yesterday?  A  handful  of 
feeble  colonies  far  weaker  than  the  Balkan  States 
to-day. 

"Why  should  this  particular  moment  be  chosen," 
they  would  protest,  "to  render  immovable  interna 
tional  frontiers  that  have  always  been  shifting? 
Why  should  the  maps  of  the  world  be  now  finally 
crystallised  so  as  to  give  England  millions  of  square 
miles  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  Canada,  Aus 
tralia,  India,  Egypt,  while  we  possess  so  little?  Did 
God  make  England  so  much  better  than  he  made  us? 
Why  should  the  Russian  Empire  sweep  across  two 
continents  while  our  territory  is  crowded  into  a  cor 
ner  of  one?  Is  Russia  so  supremely  deserving? 
And  why  should  the  United  States  possess  as  much 
18 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

of  the  earth's  surface  as  Germany,  France,  Italy, 
Belgium,  Holland,  Austria-Hungary,  Denmark, 
Greece,  Serbia,  Bulgaria,  Roumania,  Spain,  Norway, 
Sweden  and  Japan  all  together  and,  besides  that, 
claim  authority  to  say,  through  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine,  what  shall  happen  or  shall  not  happen  in 
South  America,  Mexico,  the  West  Indies  and  the 
Pacific?  How  did  the  United  States  get  this  au 
thority  and  this  vast  territory?  How  did  Russia 
get  her  vast  territory?  How  did  England  get  her 
vast  territory?" 

The  late  Professor  J.  A.  Cramb,  an  Englishman 
himself,  gives  us  one  answer  in  his  powerful  and 
illuminating  book,  "Germany  and  England,"  and 
shows  us  how  England,  in  the  view  of  many,  got  her 
possessions: 

England!  The  successful  burglar,  who,  an  im 
mense  fortune  amassed,  has  retired  from  business, 
and  having  broken  every  law,  human  and  divine, 
violated  every  instinct  of  honour  and  fidelity  on 
every  sea  and  on  every  continent,  desires  now  the 
protection  of  the  police!  ...  So  long  as  England, 
the  great  robber-state,  retains  her  booty,  the  spoils 
of  a  world,  what  right  has  she  to  expect  peace  from 
the  nations? 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Bryan's  peace  exhortations,  some 
of  the  smaller  but  more  efficient  world  powers,  cer 
tainly  Germany  and  Japan,  would  recall  similar 
cynical  teachings  of  history  and  would  smilingly  an- 

19 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

swer:  "We  approve  of  your  beautiful  international 
peace  plan,  of  your  admirable  world  police  plan,  but 
before  putting  it  into  execution,  we  prefer  to  wait  a 
few  hundred  years  and  see  if  we  also,  in  the  ups  and 
downs  of  nations,  cannot  win  for  ourselves,  by  con 
quest  or  cunning  or  other  means  not  provided  for  in 
the  law  of  love,  a  great  empire  covering  a  vast  por 
tion  of  the  earth's  surface." 

The  force  and  justice  of  this  argument  will  be 
appreciated,  to  use  a  homely  comparison,  by  those 
who  have  studied  the  psychology  of  poker  games 
and  observed  the  unvarying  willingness  of  heavy 
winners  to  end  the  struggle  after  a  certain  time, 
while  the  losers  insist  upon  playing  longer. 

It  will  be  the  same  in  this  international  struggle 
for  world  supremacy,  the  only  nations  willing  to 
stop  fighting  will  be  the  ones  that  are  far  ahead  of 
the  game,  like  Great  Britain,  Russia  and  the  United 
States. 

We  may  be  sure  that  wars  will  continue  on  the 
earth.  War  may  be  a  biological  necessity  in  the 
development  of  the  human  race — God's  houseclean- 
ing,  as  Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  calls  it.  War  may  be  a 
great  soul  stimulant  meant  to  purge  mankind  of 
evils  greater  than  itself,  evils  of  baseness  and  world 
degeneration.  We  know  there  are  blighted  forests 
that  must  be  swept  clean  by  fire.  Let  us  not  scoff 
at  such  a  theory  until  we  understand  the  immeas 
urable  mysteries  of  life  and  death.  We  know  that, 
through  the  ages,  two  terrific  and  devastating  racial 
20 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

impulses  have  made  themselves  felt  among  men  and 
have  never  been  restrained,  sex  attraction  and  war. 
Perhaps  they  were  not  meant  to  be  restrained. 

Listen  to  John  Ruskin,  apostle  of  art  and  spiritu 
ality: 

All  the  pure  and  noble  arts  of  peace  are  founded 
on  war.  No  great  art  ever  rose  on  earth  but  among 
a  nation  of  soldiers.  There  is  no  great  art  possible 
to  a  nation  but  that  which  is  based  on  battle. 
When  I  tell  you  that  war  is  the  foundation  of  all  the 
arts,  I  mean  also  that  it  is  the  foundation  of  all  the 
high  virtues  and  faculties  of  men.  It  was  very 
strange  for  me  to  discover  this,  and  very  dreadful, 
but  I  saw  it  to  be  quite  an  undeniable  fact.  The 
common  notion  that  peace  and  the  virtues  of  civil 
life  flourished  together  I  found  to  be  utterly  unten 
able.  We  talk  of  peace  and  learning,  of  peace  and 
plenty,  of  peace  and  civilisation;  but  I  found  that 
these  are  not  the  words  that  the.  Muse  of  History 
coupled  together;  that  on  her  lips  the  words  were 
peace  and  sensuality,  peace  and  selfishness,  peace 
and  death.  I  found  in  brief  that  all  great  nations 
learned  their  truth  of  word  and. strength  of  thought 
in  war ;  that  they  were  nourished  in  war  and  wasted 
in  peace;  taught  by  war  and  deceived  by  peace; 
trained  by  war  and  betrayed  by  peace;  in  a  word, 
that  they  were  born  in  war  and  expired  in  peace. 

We  know  Bernhardi's  remorseless  views  taken 
from  Treitschke  and  adopted  by  the  whole  German 
nation : 

21 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

War  is  a  fiery  crucible,  a  terrible  training  school 
through  which  the  world  has  grown  better. 

In  his  impressive  work,  "The  Game  of  Empires," 
Edward  S.  Van  Zile  quotes  Major  General  von  Dis- 
furth,  a  distinguished  retired  officer  of  the  German 
army,  who  chants  so  fierce  a  glorification  of  war  for 
the  German  idea,  war  for  German  Kultur,  war  at 
all  costs  and  with  any  consequences  that  one  reads 
with  a  shudder  of  amazement: 

Germany  stands  as  the  supreme  arbiter  of  her 
own  methods.  It  is  of  no  consequence  whatever  if 
all  the  monuments  ever  created,  all  the  pictures 
ever  painted,  and  all  the  buildings  ever  erected  by 
the  great  architects  of  the  world  be  destroyed,  if 
by  their  destruction  we  promote  Germany's  victory 
over  her  enemies.  The  commonest,  ugliest  stone 
that  marks  the  burial  place  of  a  German  grenadier 
is  a  more  glorious  and  venerable  monument  than 
all  the  cathedrals  of  Europe  put  together.  They 
call  us  barbarians.  What  of  it?  We  scorn  them 
and  their  abuse.  For  my  part,  I  hope  that  in  this 
war  we  have  merited  the  title  of  barbarians.  Let 
neutral  peoples  and  our  enemies  cease  their  empty 
chatter,  which  may  well  be  compared  to  the  twitter 
of  birds.  Let  them  cease  to  talk  of  the  cathedral 
of  Rheims  and  of  all  the  churches  and  all  the  castles 
in  France  which  have  shared  its  fate.  These  things 
do  not  interest  us.  Our  troops  must  achieve  victory. 
What  else  matters? 
22 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

Obviously  there  are  cases  where  every  noble  senti 
ment  would  impel  a  nation  to  go  to  war.  A  solemn 
promise  broken,  a  deliberate  insult  to  the  flag,  an 
act  of  intolerable  bullying,  some  wicked  purpose  of 
self-aggrandisement  at  the  expense  of  weaker  na 
tions,  anything,  in  short,  that  flaunted  the  national 
honour  or  imperilled  the  national  integrity  would 
be  a  call  to  war  that  must  be  heeded  by  valiant  and 
high-souled  citizens,  in  all  lands.  Nor  can  we  have 
any  surety  against  such  wanton  international  acts, 
so  long  as  the  fate  of  nations  is  left  in  the  hands  of 
small  autocracies  or  military  and  diplomatic  cliques 
empowered  to  act  without  either  the  knowledge  or 
approval  of  the  people.  Wars  will  never  be  abol 
ished  until  the  war-making  power  is  taken  from  the 
few  and  jealously  guarded  by  the  whole  people,  and 
only  exercised  after  public  discussion  of  the  matters 
at  issue  and  a  public  understanding  of  inevitable 
consequences.  At  present  it  is  evident  that  the 
pride,  greed,  madness  of  one  irresponsible  King,  Em 
peror,  Czar,  Mikado  or  President  may  plunge  the 
whole  world  into  war-misery  that  will  last  for  gen 
erations. 

There  are  other  cases  where  war  is  not  only  in 
evitable,  but  actually  desirable  from  a  standpoint  of 
world  advantage.  Imagine  a  highly  civilised  and 
progressive  nation,  a  strong  prosperous  nation, 
wisely  and  efficiently  governed,  as  may  be  true,  some 
day,  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Let  us  sup 
pose  this  nation  to  be  surrounded  by  a  number  of 

23 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

weak  and  unenlightened  states,  always  quarrelling, 
badly  and  corruptly  managed,  like  Mexico  and  some 
of  the  Central  American  republics.  Would  it  not  be 
better  for  the  world  if  this  strong,  enlightened  na 
tion  took  possession  of  its  backward  neighbours, 
even  by  force  of  arms,  and  taught  them  how  to  live 
and  how  to  make  the  best  of  their  neglected  re 
sources  and  possibilities?  Would  not  these  weak 
nations  be  more  prosperous  and  happier  after  incor 
poration  with  the  strong  nation?  Is  not  Egypt  bet 
ter  off  and  happier  since  the  British  occupation? 
Were  not  the  wars  that  created  united  Italy  and 
united  Germany  justified?  Does  any  one  regret 
our  civil  war?  It  was  necessary,  was  it  not? 

Similarly  it  is  better  for  the  world  that  we  fought 
and  conquered  the  American  Indians  and  took  their 
land  to  use  it,  in  accordance  with  our  higher  destiny, 
for  greater  and  nobler  purposes  than  they  could 
either  conceive  of  or  execute.  It  is  better  for  the 
world  that  by  a  revolution  (even  a  disingenuous 
one)  we  took  Panama  from  incompetent  Colombians 
and,  by  our  intelligence,  our  courage  and  our  vast 
resources,  changed  a  fever-ridden  strip  of  jungle  into 
a  waterway  that  now  joins  two  oceans  and  will  save 
untold  billions  for  the  commerce  of  the  earth. 

Carrying  a  step  farther  this  idea  of  world  effi 
ciency  through  war,  it  is  probable  that  future  gen 
erations  will  be  grateful  to  some  South  American 
nation,  perhaps  Brazil,  or  Chile  or  the  Argentine 
Republic,  that  shall  one  day  be  wise  and  strong 
24 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

enough  to  lay  the  foundations  on  the  field  of  battle 
(Mr.  Bryan  may  think  this  could  be  accomplished 
by  peaceful  negotiations,  but  he  is  mistaken)  for 
the  United  States  of  South  America. 

And  why  not  ultimately  the  United  States  of 
Europe,  the  United  States  of  Asia,  the  United  States 
of  Africa,  all  created  by  useful  and  progressive  wars? 
Consider  the  increased  efficiency,  prosperity  and 
happiness  that  must  come  through  such  unions  of 
small  nations  now  trying  separately  and  ineffectively 
to  carry  on  multiple  activities  that  could  be  far  bet 
ter  carried  on  collectively.  Our  American  Union, 
born  of  war,  proves  this,  does  it  not? 

"United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall,"  applies  not 
merely  to  states,  counties  and  townships,  but  to  na 
tions,  to  empires,  to  continents.  Continents  will  be 
the  last  to  join  hands  across  the  seas  (having  first 
waged  vast  inter-continental  wars)  and  then,  after 
the  rise  and  fall  of  many  sovereignties,  there  will  be 
established  on  the  earth  the  last  great  government, 
the  United  States  of  the  World! 

That  is  the  logical  limit  of  human  activities.  Are 
we  not  all  citizens  of  the  earth,  descended  from  the 
same  parents,  born  with  the  same  needs  and  ca 
pacities?  Why  should  there  be  fifty-three  barriers 
dividing  men  into  fifty- three  nations?  Why  should 
there  be  any  other  patriotism  than  world  patriotism? 
Or  any  other  government  than  one  world  govern 
ment? 

When  this  splendid  ultimate  consummation  has 

25 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

been  achieved,  after  ages  of  painful  evolution  (we 
must  remember  that  the  human  race  is  still  in  its 
infancy)  our  remote  descendants,  united  in  lan 
guage,  religion  and  customs,  with  a  great  world  rep 
resentative  government  finally  established  and  the 
law  of  love  prevailing,  may  begin  preparations  for 
a  grand  world  celebration  of  the  last  war.  Say,  in 
the  year  A.D.  2921 ! 
But  not  until  then! 

If  this  reasoning  is  sound,  if  war  must  be  re 
garded,  for  centuries  to  come,  as  an  inevitable  part 
of  human  existence,  then  let  us,  as  loyal  Americans, 
realise  that,  hate  war  as  we  may,  there  is  only  way 
in  which  the  United  States  can  be  insured  against 
the  horrors  of  armed  invasion,  with  the  shame  of 
disastrous  defeat  and  possible  dismemberment,  and 
that  is  by  developing  the  strength  and  valiance  to 
meet  all  probable  assailants  on  land  or  sea. 

Whether  we  like  it  or  not  we  are  a  great  world 
power,  fated  to  become  far  greater,  unless  we  throw 
away  our  advantages;  we  must  either  accept  the 
average  world  standards,  which  call  for  military 
preparedness,  or  impose  new  standards  upon  a  world 
which  concedes  no  rights  to  nations  that  have  not 
the  might  to  guard  and  enforce  those  rights. 

Why  should  we  Americans  hesitate  to  pay  the 

trifling  cost  of  insurance  against  war?     Trifling? 

Yes.    The  annual  cost  of  providing  and  maintaining 

an  adequate  army  and  navy  would  be  far  less  than 

26 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

we  spend  every  year  on  tobacco  and  alcohol.  Less 
than  fifty  cents  a  month  from  every  citizen  would 
be  sufficient.  That  amount,  wisely  expended,  would 
enormously  lessen  the  probability  of  war  and  would 
allow  the  United  States,  if  war  came,  to  face  its 
enemies  with  absolute  serenity.  The  Germans  are 
willing  to  pay  the  cost  of  preparedness.  So  are  the 
French,  the  Italians,  the  Japanese,  the  Swiss,  the 
Balkan  peoples,  the  Turks.  Do  we  love  our  country 
less  than  they  do?  Do  we  think  our  institutions, 
our  freedom  less  worthy  than  theirs  of  being  guarded 
for  posterity? 

Why  should  we  not  adopt  a  system  of  military 
training  something  like  the  one  that  has  given  such 
excellent  results  in  Switzerland?  Why  not  cease  to 
depend  upon  our  absurd  little  standing  army  which, 
for  its  strength  and  organisation,  is  frightfully  ex 
pensive  and  absolutely  inadequate,  and  depend  in 
stead  upon  a  citizenry  trained  and  accustomed  to 
arms,  with  a  permanent  body  of  competent  officers, 
at  least  50,000,  whose  lives  would  be  spent  in  giving 
one  year  military  training  to  the  young  men  of  this 
nation,  all  of  them,  say  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  twenty-three,  so  that  these  young  men  could 
serve  their  country  efficiently,  if  the  need  arose? 
Why  not  accept  the  fact  that  it  is  neither  courageous 
nor  democratic  for  us  to  depend  upon  hired  soldiers 
to  defend  our  country? 

Does  any  one  doubt  that  a  year  of  such  military 
training  would  be  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  men  of 

27 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

America?  Would  it  not  school  them  in  much- 
needed  habits  of  discipline  and  self-control,  habits 
which  must  be  learned  sooner  or  later  if  a  man  is  to 
succeed?  Would  not  the  open  air  life,  the  physical 
exercise,  the  regularity  of  hours  tend  to  improve 
their  health  and  make  them  better  citizens? 

Suppose  that  once  every  five  years  all  American 
men  up  to  fifty  were  required  to  go  into  military 
camp  and  freshen  up  on  their  defence  duties  for 
twenty  or  thirty  days.  Would  that  do  them  any 
harm?  On  the  contrary,  it  would  do  them  immense 
good. 

And  even  if  war  never  came,  is  it  not.  evident  that 
America  would  benefit  in  numberless  ways  by  such 
a  development  of  the  general  manhood  spirit?  Who 
can  say  how  much  of  Germany's  greatness  in  busi 
ness  and  commerce,  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  all  her  men,  through  military 
schooling,  have  learned  precious  lessons  in  self-con 
trol  and  obedience? 

The  pacifists  tell  us  that  after  the  present  Euro 
pean  war,  we  shall  have  nothing  to  fear  for  many 
years  from  exhausted  Europe,  but  let  us  not  be  too 
sure  of  that.  History  teaches  that  long  and  costly 
wars  do  not  necessarily  exhaust  a  nation  or  lessen 
its  readiness  to  undertake  new  wars.  On  the  con 
trary,  the  habit  of  fighting  leads  easily  to  more 
fighting.  The  Napoleonic  wars  lasted  over  twenty 
years.  At  the  close  of  our  civil  war  we  had  great 
generals  and  a  formidable  army  of  veteran  soldiers 
28 


TO  MY  FELLOW  AMERICANS 

and  would  have  been  willing  and  able  immediately 
to  engage  in  a  fresh  war  against  France  had  she  not 
yielded  to  our  demand  and  withdrawn  Maximilian 
from  Mexico.  Bulgaria  recently  fought  two  wars 
within  a  year,  the  second  leaving  her  exhausted  and 
prostrate;  yet  within  two  years  she  was  able  to  en 
ter  upon  a  third  war  stronger  than  ever. 

If  Germany  wins  in  the  present  great  conflict  she 
may  quite  conceivably  turn  to  America  for  the  vast 
money  indemnity  that  she  will  be  unable  to  exact 
from  her  depleted  enemies  in  Europe;  and  if  Ger 
many  loses  or  half  loses  she  may  decide  to  retrieve 
her  desperate  fortunes  in  this  tempting  and  unde 
fended  field.  With  her  African  empire  hopelessly 
lost  to  her,  where  more  naturally  than  to  facile 
America  will  she  turn  for  her  coveted  place  in  the 
sun? 

And  if  not  Germany,  it  may  well  be  some  other 
great  nation  that  will  attack  us.  Perhaps  Great 
Britain!  Especially  if  our  growing  merchant  ma 
rine  threatens  her  commercial  supremacy  of  the  sea, 
which  is  her  life.  Perhaps  Japan!  whose  attack  on 
Germany  in  1914  shows  plainly  that  she  merely 
awaits  favourable  opportunity  to  dispose  of  any  of 
her  rivals  in  the  Orient.  Let  us  bear  in  mind  that, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  world's  greatest  authorities,  we 
Americans  are  to-day  totally  unprepared  to  defend 
ourselves  against  a  first-class  foreign  power.  My 
story  aims  to  show  this,  and  high  officers  in  our  army 
and  navy,  who  have  assisted  me  in  the  preparation 

29 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

of  this  book  and  to  whom  I  am  grateful,  assure  me 
that  I  have  set  forth  the  main  facts  touching  our 
military  defencelessness  without  exaggeration. 

C.  M. 
WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY,  1916. 


30 


CHAPTER  I 

I  WITNESS  THE  BLOWING  UP  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL 

IN  my  thirty  years'  service  as  war  correspondent 
of  the  London  Times  I  have  looked  behind  the 
scenes  of  various  world  happenings,  and  have  known 
the  thrill  of  personally  facing  some  great  historic 
crises;  but  there  is  nothing  in  my  experience  so  dra 
matic,  so  pregnant  with  human  consequences,  as 
the  catastrophe  of  April  27,  1921,  when  the  Gatun 
Locks  of  the  Panama  Canal  were  destroyed  by  dyna 
mite. 

At  that  moment  I  was  seated  on  the  shaded, 
palm-bordered  piazza  of  the  Grand  Hotel  at  Colon, 
discussing  with  Rear-Admiral  Thomas  Q.  Allyn  of 
the  United  States  Navy  the  increasing  chances  that 
America  might  find  herself  plunged  into  war  with 
Japan.  For  weeks  the  clouds  had  been  darkening, 
and  it  was  now  evident  that  the  time  had  come 
when  the  United  States  must  either  abandon  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  open  door  in  China,  or 
fight  to  maintain  these  doctrines. 

"Mr.  Langston,"  the  Admiral  was  saying,  "the  sit 
uation  is  extremely  grave.  Japan  intends  to  carry 
out  her  plans  of  expansion  in  Mexico  and  China, 

31 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

and  possibly  in  the  Philippines;  there  is  not  a  doubt 
of  it.  Her  fleet  is  cruising  somewhere  in  the  Pacific, 
— we  don't  know  where, — and  our  Atlantic  fleet 
passed  through  the  Canal  yesterday,  as  you  know, 
to  make  a  demonstration  of  force  in  the  Pacific  and 
to  be  ready  for — for  whatever  may  come." 

His  hands  closed  nervously,  and  he  studied  the 
horizon  with  half-shut  eyes. 

In  the  course  of  our  talk  Admiral  Allyn  had  ad 
mitted  that  the  United  States  was  wofully  unpre 
pared  for  conflict  with  a  great  power,  either  on  sea 
or  land. 

"The  blow  will  be  struck  suddenly,"  he  went  on, 
"you  may  be  sure  of  that.  Our  military  prepara 
tions  are  so  utterly  inadequate  that  we  may  suffer 
irreparable  harm  before  we  can  begin  to  use  our  vast 
resources.  You  know  when  Prussia  struck  Austria 
in  1866  the  war  was  over  in  three  months.  When 
Germany  struck  France  in  1870  the  decisive  battle, 
Sedan,  was  fought  forty-seven  days  later.  When 
Japan  struck  Russia,  the  end  was  foreseen  within 
four  or  five  months." 

"It  wasn't  so  in  the  great  European  war,"  I  re 
marked. 

"Why  not?  Because  England  held  the  mastery 
of  the  sea.  But  we  hold  the  mastery  of  nothing. 
Our  fleet  is  barely  third  among  the  nations  and  we 
are  frightfully  handicapped  by  our  enormous  length 
of  coast  line  and  by  this  canal." 

"The  Canal  gives  us  a  great  advantage,  doesn't 
32 


BLOWING  UP  OF  PANAMA 


it?  I  thought  it  doubled  the  efficiency  of  our  fleet?" 
"It  does  nothing  of  the  sort.  The  Canal  may  be 
seized.  It  may  be  put  out  of  commission  for  weeks 
or  months  by  landslides  or  earthquakes.  A  few 
hostile  ships  of  the  Queen  Elizabeth  class  lying  ten 
miles  off  shore  at  either  end,  with  ranges  exactly 
fixed,  or  a  good  shot  from  an  aeroplane,  could  not 
only  destroy  the  Canal's  insufficient  defences,  but 
could  prevent  our  fleet  from  coming  through,  could 
hold  it,  useless,  in  the  Atlantic  when  it  might  be 
needed  to  save  California  or  useless  in  the  Pacific 
when  it  might  be  needed  to  save  New  York.  If  it 
happened  when  war  began  that  one  half  of  our  fleet 
was  in  the  Atlantic  and  the  other  half  in  the  Pacific, 
then  the  enemy  could  keep  these  two  halves  sep 
arated  and  destroy  them  one  by  one." 

"I  suppose  you  mean  that  we  need  two  fleets?" 
"Of  course  we  do — a  child  can  see  it — if  we  are  to 
guard  our  two  seaboards.  We  must  have  a  fleet  in 
the  Atlantic  strong  enough  to  resist  any  probable  at 
tack  from  the  East,  and  another  fleet  in  the  Pacific 
strong  enough  to  resist  any  probable  attack  from  the 
West. 

"But  listen  to  this,  think  of  this,"  the  veteran 
warrior  leaned  towards  me,  shaking  an  eager  fore 
finger.  "At  the  present  moment  our  entire  fleet,  if 
massed  off  Long  Island,  would  be  inferior  to  a  fleet 
that  Germany  could  send  across  the  Atlantic  against 
us  by  many  ships,  many  submarines  and  many  aero- 

33 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

planes.  And  hopelessly  inferior  in  men  and  am 
munition,  including  torpedoes." 

As  I  listened  I  felt  myself  falling  under  the  spell 
of  the  Admiral's  eloquence.  He  was  so  sure  of  what 
he  said.  These  dangers  unquestionably  existed,  but 
— were  they  about  to  descend  upon  America?  Must 
we  really  face  the  horrors  of  a  war  of  invasion? 

"Your  arguments  are  very  convincing,  sir,  and 
yet "  I  hesitated. 

"Well?" 

"You  speak  as  if  these  things  were  going  to  hap 
pen  right  now,  but  there  are  no  signs  of  war,  no 
clouds  on  the  horizon." 

The  Admiral  waved  this  aside  with  an  impatient 
gesture. 

"I  tell  you  the  blow  will  come  suddenly.  Were 
there  any  clouds  on  the  European  horizon  in  July, 
1914?  Yet  a  few  persons  knew,  just  as  I  have 
known  for  months,  that  war  was  inevitable." 

"Known?"  I  repeated. 

Very  deliberately  the  grizzled  sea  fighter  lighted  a 
fresh  cigar  before  replying. 

"Mr.  Langston,  I'll  tell  you  a  little  story  that  ex 
plains  why  I  am  posing  as  a  prophet.  You  can  put 
it  in  your  memoirs  some  day — if  my  prophecy  comes 
true.  It's  the  story  of  an  American  naval  officer, 
a  young  lieutenant,  who — well,  he  went  wrong 
about  a  year  ago.  He  got  into  the  clutches  of  a 
woman  spy  in  the  employ  of  a  foreign  government. 
He  met  this  woman  in  Marseilles  on  our  last  Medi- 
34 


BLOWING  UP  OF  PANAMA 


terranean  cruise  and  fell  in  love  with  her — hope 
lessly.  She's  one  of  those  devilish  sirens  that  no 
full-blooded  man  can  resist  and,  the  extraordinary 
part  of  it  is,  she  fell  in  love  with  him — genuinely 
in  love. 

"Well — it  was  a  bad  business.  This  officer  gave 
the  woman  all  he  had,  told  her  all  he  knew,  and  fi 
nally  he  asked  her  to  marry  him.  Yes.  He  didn't 
care  what  she  was.  He  just  wanted  her.  And  she 
was  so  happy,  so  crazy  about  him,  that  she  almost 
yielded;  she  was  ready  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  to 
settle  down  as  his  wife,  but " 

"But  she  didn't  do  it?"  I  smiled. 

The  Admiral  shook  his  head. 

"He  was  a  poor  man — just  a  lieutenant's  pay  and 
she  couldn't  give  up  her  grand  life.  But  she  loved 
him  enough  to  try  to  save  him,  enough  to  leave  him. 
She  wrote  him  a  wonderful  letter,  poured  her  soul 
out  to  him,  gave  him  certain  military  secrets  of  the 
government  she  was  working  for — they  would  have 
shot  her  in  a  minute,  you  understand,  if  they  had 
known  it — and  she  told  him  to  take  this  information 
as  a  proof  of  her  love  and  use  it  to  save  the  United 
States." 

I  was  listening  now  with  absorbed  interest. 

"What  government  was  she  working  for?" 

The  Admiral  paused  to  relight  his  cigar. 

"Wait!  The  next  thing  was  that  this  lieutenant 
came  to  me,  as  a  friend  of  his  father  and  an  admiral 
of  the  American  fleet,  and  made  a  clean  breast  of 

35 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

everything.  He  made  his  confession  in  confidence, 
but  asked  me  to  use  the  knowledge  as  I  saw  fit 
without  mentioning  his  name.  I  did  use  it  and" — 
the  Admiral's  frown  deepened — "the  consequence 
was  no  one  believed  me.  They  said  the  warning 
was  too  vague.  You  know  the  attitude  of  recent 
administrations  towards  all  questions  of  national 
defence.  It's  always  politics  before  patriotism,  al 
ways  the  fear  of  losing  middle  west  pacifist  votes. 
It's  disgusting — horrible!" 

"Was  the  warning  really  vague?" 

"Vague.  My  God!"  The  old  sea  dog  bounded 
from  his  chair.  "I'll  tell  you  how  vague  it  was.  A 
statement  was  definitely  made  that  before  May  1, 
1921,  a  great  foreign  power  would  make  war  upon 
the  United  States  and  would  begin  by  destroying 
the  Panama  Canal.  To-day  is  April  27,  1921.  I 
don't  say  these  things  are  going  to  happen  within 
three  days  but,  Mr.  Langston,  as  purely  as  the  sun 
shines  on  that  ocean,  we  Americans  are  living  in  a 
fool's  paradise.  We  are  drunk  with  prosperity.  We 
are  deaf  and  blind  to  the  truth  which  is  known  to 
other  nations,  known  to  our  enemies,  known  to  the 
ablest  officers  in  our  army  and  navy. 

"The  truth  is  that,  as  a  nation,  we  have  learned 
nothing  from  our  past  wars  because  we  have  never 
had  to  fight  a  first-class  power  that  was  prepared. 
But  the  next  war,  and  it  is  surely  coming,  will  find 
us  held  in  the  grip  of  an  inexorable  law  which  pro- 
36 


BLOWING  UP  OF  PANAMA 


vides  that  nations  imitating  the  military  policy  of 
China  must  suffer  the  fate  of  China." 

The  Admiral  now  explained  why  he  had  sent  for 
me.  It  was  to  suggest  that  I  cable  the  London  Times, 
urging  my  paper  to  use  its  influence,  through  Brit 
ish  diplomatic  channels,  to  avert  another  great  war. 
I  pointed  out  that  the  chances  of  such  intervention 
were  slight.  Great  Britain  was  still  smarting  under 
the  memory  of  Americans'  alleged  indifference  to 
everything  but  money  in  1918  when  the  United 
States  stood  by,  unprotesting,  and  saw  England 
stripped  of  her  mastery  of  the  sea  after  the  loss  of 
Gibraltar  and  the  Suez  Canal. 

"There  are  two  sides  to  that,"  frowned  the  Ad 
miral,  "but  one  thing  is  certain — it's  England  or 
no  one.  We  have  nothing  to  hope  for  from  Rus 
sia;  she  has  what  she  wants — Constantinople. 
Nothing  to  hope  for  from  France;  she  has  her  lost 
provinces  back.  And  as  for  Germany — Germany  is 
waiting,  recuperating,  watching  her  chance  for  a 
place  in  the  South  American  sun." 

"Germany  managed  well  in  the  Geneva  Peace 
Congress  of  1919,"  I  said. 

The  veteran  of  Manila  threw  down  his  cigarette 
impatiently. 

"Bismarck  could  have  done  no  better.  They 
bought  off  Europe,  they  crippled  England  and — 
they  isolated  America." 

"By  the  way,"  continued  the  Admiral,  "I  must 

37 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

show  you  some  things  in  my  scrap  book.  You  will 
be  astonished.  Wait  a  minute.  I'll  get  it." 

The  old  fellow  hurried  off  and  presently  returned 
with  a  heavy  volume  bound  in  red  leather. 

"Take  it  up  to  your  room  to-night  and  look  it 
over.  You  will  find  the  most  overwhelming  mass 
of  testimony  to  the  effect  that  to-day,  in  spite  of 
all  that  has  been  said  and  written  and  all  the  money 
spent,  the  United  States  is  totally  unprepared  to 
defend  its  coasts  or  uphold  its  national  honour. 
Just  open  the  book  anywhere — you'll  see." 

I  obeyed  and  came  upon  this  statement  by  Theo 
dore  Roosevelt: 

What  befell  Antwerp  and  Brussels  will  surely 
some  day  befall  New  York  or  San  Francisco,  and 
may  happen  to  many  an  inland  city  also,  if  we  do 
not  shake  off  our  supine  folly,  if  we  trust  for  safety 
to  peace  treaties  unbacked  by  force. 

"Pretty  strong  words  for  an  ex-President  of  the 
United  States  to  be  using,"  nodded  the  Admiral. 
"And  true!  Try  another  place." 

I  did  so  and  came  upon  this  from  the  pen  of 
Gerhard  von  Schulze-Gaevernitz,  professor  of  po 
litical  economy  at  the  University  of  Freiburg  and 
a  member  of  the  Reichstag: 

Flattered  and  deftly  lulled  to  sleep  by  British  in 
fluence,  public  opinion  in  the  United  States  will  not 
38 


BLOWING  UP  OF  PANAMA 


wake  up  until  the  "yellow  New  England"  of  the 
Orient,  nurtured  and  deflected  from  Australia  by 
England  herself,  knocks  at  the  gates  of  the  new 
world.  Not  a  patient  and  meek  China,  but  a  war 
like  and  conquest-bound  Japan  will  be  the  aggressor 
when  that  day  comes.  Then  America  will  be  forced 
to  fight  under  unfavourable  conditions. 

The  famous  campaigner's  eyes  flashed  towards  the 
Pacific. 

"When  that  day  comes!  Ah!  Speaking  of 
Japan,"  he  turned  over  the  pages  in  nervous -haste. 
"Here  we  are!  You  can  see  how  much  the  Jap 
anese  love  us!  Listen!  This  is  an  extract  from 
the  most  popular  book  in  Japan  to-day.  It  is  issued 
by  Japan's  powerful  and  official  National  Defence 
Association  with  a  view  to  inflaming  the  Japanese 
people  against  the  United  States  and  preparing  them 
for  a  war  of  invasion  against  this  country.  Listen 
to  this: 

Let  America  beware!  For  our  cry,  "On  to  Cali 
fornia!  On  to  Hawaii!  On  to  the  Philippines!"  is 
becoming  only  secondary  to  our  imperial  anthem! 
.  .  .  To  arms!  We  must  seize  our  standards,  un 
furl  them  to  the  winds  and  advance  without  the 
least  fear,  as  America  has  no  army  worthy  the 
name,  and  with  the  Panama  Canal  destroyed,  its 
few  battleships  will  be  of  no  use  until  too  late. 

"I  tell  you,  Mr.  Langston,"  pursued  the  Admiral, 
"we  Americans  are  to-day  the  most  hated  nation 

39 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

on  earth.  The  richest,  the  most  arrogant,  the  most 
hated  nation  on  earth!  And  helpless!  Defence 
less!  Believe  me,  that's  a  bad  combination.  Look 
at  this!  Read  this!  It's  a  cablegram  to  the  New 
York  Tribune,  published  on  May  21,  1915,  from 
Miss  Constance  Drexel,  an  American  delegate  to  the 
Woman's  Peace  Conference  at  The  Hague: 

I  have  just  come  out  of  Germany  and  perhaps  the 
predominating  impression  I  bring  with  me  is  Ger 
many's  hatred  of  America.  Germany  feels  that  war 
with  America  is  only  a  matter  of  time.  Everywhere 
I  went  I  found  the  same  sentiment,  and  the  furthest 
distance  away  I  found  the  war  put  was  ten  years. 
It  was  said  to  me:  "We  must  settle  with  England 
first,  but  then  will  come  America's  turn.  If  we 
don't  make  war  on  you  ourselves  we  will  get  Japan 
into  a  war  with  you,  and  then  we  will  supply  arms 
and  munitions  to  Japan." 

At  this  point,  I  remember,  I  had  turned  to  order 
an  orange  liqueur,  when  the  crash  came. 

It  was  terrific.  Every  window  in  the  hotel  was 
shattered,  and  some  scores  of  labourers  working  near 
the  Gatun  Locks  were  killed  instantly.  Six  hun 
dred  tons  of  dynamite,  secreted  in  the  hold  of  a 
German  merchantman,  had  been  exploded  as  the 
vessel  passed  through  the  locks,  and  ten  thousand 
tons  of  Portland  cement  had  sunk  in- the  tangled  iron 
wreck,  to  form  a  huge  blockading  mass  of  solid  rock 
on  the  floor  of  the  narrow  passage. 
40 


BLOWING  UP  OF  PANAMA 


Needless  to  say,  every  man  on  the  German  ship 
thus  sacrificed  died  at  his  post. 

The  Admiral  stared  in  dismay  when  the  news  was 
brought  to  him. 

"Germany!"  he  muttered.  "And  our  fleet  is  in 
the  Pacific!" 

"Does  it  mean  war?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,  of  course.  Unquestionably  it  means  war. 
We  have  been  misled.  We  were  thinking  of  one 
enemy,  and  we  have  been  struck  by  another.  We 
thought  we  could  send  our  fleet  through  the  Canal 
and  get  it  back  easily;  but — now  we  cannot  get  it 
back  for  at  least  two  months!" 


41 


CHAPTER  II 

AMERICAN     AEROPLANES     AND     SUBMARINES     BATTLE 
DESPERATELY  AGAINST  THE   GERMAN   FLEET 

A  WEEK  later — or,  to  be  exact,  on  May  4,  1921 — 
I  arrived  in  New  York,  following  instructions  from 
my  paper,  and  found  the  city  in  a  state  of  indescrib 
able  confusion  and  alarm. 

War  had  been  declared  by  Germany  against  the 
United  States  on  the  day  that  the  Canal  was 
wrecked,  and  German  transports,  loaded  with  troops 
and  convoyed  by  a  fleet  of  battleships,  were  known 
to  be  on  the  high  seas,  headed  for  American  shores. 
As  the  Atlantic  fleet  had  been  cut  off  in  the  Pa 
cific  by  that  desperate  piece  of  Panama  strategy  (the 
Canal  would  be  impassable  for  months),  it  was  evi 
dent  that  those  ships  could  be  of  no  service  for  at 
least  eight  weeks,  the  time  necessary  to  make  the 
trip  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan ;  and  meanwhile 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  from  Maine  to  Florida  was 
practically  unguarded. 

No  wonder  the  newspapers  shrieked  despairingly 
and  bitterly  upbraided  Congress  for  neglecting  to 
provide  the  country  with  adequate  naval  defences. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  came  out  with  a  signed  state 
ment: 

42 


GERMAN  FLEET  PREVAILS 


"Four  years  ago  I  warned  this  country  that  the 
United  States  must  have  two  great  fleets — one  for 
the  Atlantic,  one  for  the  Pacific." 

Senator  Sraoot,  in  a  sensational  speech,  referred 
to  his  vain  efforts  to  secure  for  the  country  a  fleet 
of  fifty  sea-going  submarines  and  twenty-five  coast- 
defence  submarines.  Now,  he  declared,  the  United 
States  would  pay  for  its  indifference  to  danger. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Gardner  and 
Hobson  both  declared  that  our  forts  were  anti 
quated,  our  coast-defence  guns  outranged,  our  ar 
tillery  ridiculously  insufficient,  and  our  supply  of 
ammunition  not  great  enough  to  carry  us  through 
a  single  month  of  active  warfare. 

On  the  night  of  my  arrival  in  Manhattan  I  walked 
through  scenes  of  delirious  madness.  The  town 
seemed  to  reel  in  a  sullen  drunkenness.  Throngs 
filled  the  dark  streets.  The  Gay  White  Way  was 
no  longer  either  white  or  gay.  The  marvellous  elec 
trical  display  of  upper  Broadway  had  disappeared 
— not  even  a  street  light  was  to  be  seen.  And  great 
hotels,  like  the  Plaza,  the  Biltmore,  and  the  new 
Morgan,  formerly  so  bright,  were  scarcely  discerni 
ble  against  the  black  skies.  No  one  knew  where 
the  German  airships  might  be.  Everybody  shouted, 
but  nobody  made  very  much  noise.  The  city  was 
hoarse.  I  remembered  just  how  London  acted  the 
night  the  first  Zeppelin  floated  over  the  town. 

At  five  o'clock  the  next  morning,  Mayor  Mc- 
Aneny  appointed  a  Committee  of  Public  Safety  that 

43 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

went  into  permanent  session  in  Madison  Square 
Garden,  which  was  thronged  day  and  night,  while 
excited  meetings,  addressed  by  men  and  women  of 
all  political  parties,  were  held  continuously  in  Union 
Square,  City  Hall  Park,  Columbus  Circle,  at  the 
Polo  Grounds  and  in  various  theatres  and  motion- 
picture  houses. 

Such  a  condition  of  excitement  and  terror  neces 
sarily  led  to  disorder  and  on  May  11,  1921,  General 
Leonard  Wood,  in  command  of  the  Eastern  Army, 
placed  the  city  under  martial  law. 

And  now  on  every  tongue  were  frantic  questions. 
When  would  the  Germans  land?  To-day?  To 
morrow?  Where  would  they  strike  first?  What 
were  we  going  to  do?  Every  one  realised,  when  it 
was  too  late,  the  hopeless  inadequacy  of  our  aero 
plane  scouting  service.  To  guard  our  entire  Atlan 
tic  seaboard  we  had  fifty  military  aeroplanes  where 
we  should  have  had  a  thousand  and  we  were  wick 
edly  lacking  in  pilots.  Oh,  the  shame  of  those  days! 

In  this  emergency  Rodman  Wanamaker  put  at 
the  disposal  of  the  government  his  splendid  air  yacht 
the  America  II,  built  on  the  exact  lines  of  the  Amer 
ica  I,  winner  of  across-the-Atlantic  prizes  in  1918, 
but  of  much  larger  spread  and  greater  engine  power. 
The  America  II  could  carry  a  useful  load  of  five 
tonlTand  in  her  scouting  work  during  the  next  fort 
night  she  accommodated  a  dozen  passengers,  four 
officers,  a  crew  of  six,  and  two  newspaper  men,  Fred- 
44 


GERMAN  FLEET  PREVAILS 


erick  Palmer,  representing  the  Associated  Press,  and 
myself  for  the  London  Times. 

What  a  tremendous  thing  it  was,  this  scouting 
trip !  Day  after  day,  far  out  over  the  ocean,  search 
ing  for  German  battleships!  Our  easy  jog  trot 
speed  along  the  sky  was  sixty  miles  an  hour  and, 
under  full  engine  pressure,  the  America  II  could 
make  a  hundred  and  twenty,  which  was  lucky  for 
us  as  it  saved  us  many  a  time  when  the  slower 
German  aircraft  came  after  us,  spitting  bullets  from 
their  machine  guns. 

On  the  morning  of  May  12,  a  perfect  spring  day, 
circling  at  a  height  of  half  a  mile,  about  fifty  miles 
off  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island,  we  had  our 
first  view  of  the  German  fleet  as  it  ploughed  through 
smooth  seas  to  the  south  of  Montauk  Point. 

We  counted  eight  battle  cruisers,  twelve  dread 
noughts,  ten  pre-dreadnoughts,  and  about  sixty  de 
stroyers,  in  addition  to  transports,  food-ships,  hos 
pital-ships,  repair-ships,  colliers,  and  smaller  fight 
ing  and  scouting  vessels,  all  with  their  full  comple 
ment  of  men  and  equipment,  moving  along  there 
below  us  in  the  pleasant  sunshine.  Among  the  troop 
ships  I  made  out  the  Kaiserin  Auguste  Luise  and 
the  Deutschland,  on  both  of  which  I  had  crossed 
the  summer  following  the  Great  Peace.  I  thought 
of  the  jolly  old  commander  of  the  latter  vessel  and 
of  the  capital  times  we  had  had  together  at  the 
big  round  table  in  the  dining-saloon.  It  seemed  im 
possible  that  this  was  war! 

45 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

I  subsequently  learned  that  the  original  plan 
worked  out  by  the  German  general  staff  contem 
plated  a  landing  in  the  sheltered  harbour  of  Mon- 
tauk  Point,  but  the  lengthened  range  (21,000  yards) 
of  mortars  in  the  American  forts  on  Fisher's  Island 
and  Plum  Island,  a  dozen  miles  to  the  north,  now 
brought  Montauk  Point  under  fire,  so  the  open  shore 
south  of  East  Hampton  was  substituted  as  the  point 
of  invasion. 

"There's  no  trouble  about  landing  troops  from  the 
open  sea  in  smooth  weather  like  this,"  said  Pal 
mer,  speaking  through  his  head-set.  "We  did  it  at 
Santiago,  and  the  Japs  did  it  at  Port  Arthur." 

"And  the  English  did  it  at  Ostend,"  I  agreed. 
"Hello!"  ' 

As  I  swept  the  sea  to  the  west  with  my  binocu 
lars  I  thought  I  caught  the  dim  shape  of  a  sub 
merged  submarine  moving  slowly  through  the  black 
depths  like  a  hungry  shark;  but  it  disappeared  al 
most  immediately,  and  I  was  not  sure.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  it  was  a  submarine,  one  of  six  American 
under-water  craft  that  had  been  assigned  to  patrol 
the  south  shore  of  Long  Island. 

The  United  States  still  had  twenty-five  subma 
rines  in  Atlantic  waters,  in  addition  to  thirty  that 
were  with  the  absent  fleet;  but  these  twenty-five 
had  been  divided  between  Boston  Harbour,  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  Delaware  Bay,  Chesapeake  Bay,  and 
other  vulnerable  points,  so  that  only  six  were  left 
to  defend  the  approaches  to  New  York  City.  And, 
46 


GERMAN  FLEET  PREVAILS 


of  these  six,  five  were  twenty-four  hours  late,  owing, 
I  heard  later,  to  inexcusable  delays  at  the  Brooklyn 
Navy  Yard,  where  they  had  been  undergoing  re 
pairs.  The  consequence  was  that  only  the  K-2  was 
here  to  meet  the  German  invasion — one  lone  sub 
marine  against  a  mighty  fleet. 

Still,  under  favourable  conditions,  one  lone  sub 
marine  is  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with,  as  England 
learned  in  1915. 

The  K-2  attacked  immediately,  revealing  her  peri 
scope  for  a  minute  as  she  took  her  observations. 
Then  she  launched  a  torpedo  at  a  big  German  sup 
ply-ship  not  more  than  a  thousand  yards  away. 

"Good-bye,  ship!"  said  Palmer,  and  we  watched 
with  fascinated  interest  the  swift  white  line  that 
marked  the  course  of  the  torpedo.  It  struck  the 
vessel  squarely  amidships,  and  she  sank  within  five 
minutes,  most  of  the  men  aboard  being  rescued  by 
boats  from  the  fleet. 

It  now  went  ill  with  the  K-2,  however;  for,  hav 
ing  revealed  her  presence,  she  was  pursued  by  the 
whole  army  of  swift  destroyers.  She  dived,  and 
came  up  again  two  miles  to  the  east,  bent  on  sink 
ing  a  German  dreadnought;  but,  unfortunately,  she 
rose  to  the  surface  almost  under  the  nose  of  one 
of  the  destroyers,  which  bombarded  her  with  its 
rapid-fire  guns,  and  then,  when  she  sank  once  more, 
dropped  on  her  a  small  mine  that  exploded  under 
water  with  shattering  effect,  finishing  her. 

As  I  think  it  over,  I  feel  sure  that  if  those  other 

47 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

five  submarines  had  been  ready  with  the  K-2,  we 
might  have  had  another  story  to  tell.  Possibly  the 
slowness  of  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard — which  is  no 
torious,  I  understand — may  have  spoiled  the  one 
chance  that  America  had  to  resist  this  invasion. 

The  next  day  the  five  tardy  submarines  arrived; 
but  conditions  were  now  less  favourable,  since  the 
invaders  had  had  time  to  prepare  their  defence 
against  this  under-water  peril.  As  we  flew  over  East 
Hampton  on  the  following  afternoon,  we  were  sur 
prised  to  see  five  fully  inflated  air-ships  of  the  non- 
rigid  Parseval  type  floating  in  the  blue  sky,  like  grim 
sentinels  guarding  the  German  fleet.  Down  through 
the  sun-lit  ocean  they  could  see  the  shadowy  under 
water  craft  lurking  in  the  depths,  and  they  carried 
high  explosives  to  destroy  them. 

"How  about  our  aeroplanes?"  grumbled  Palmer. 

"Look!"  I  answered,  pointing  toward  the  Shin- 
necock  Hills,  where  some  tiny  specks  appeared  like 
soaring  eagles.  "They're  coming!" 

The  American  aeroplanes,  at  least,  were  on  tune, 
and  as  they  swept  nearer  we  counted  ten  of  them, 
and  our  spirits  rose;  for  ten  swift  aeroplanes  armed 
with  explosive  bombs  can  make  a  lot  of  trouble  for 
slower  and  clumsier  aircraft. 

But  alas  for  our  hopes!  The  invaders  were  pre 
pared  also,  and,  before  the  American  fliers  had 
come  within  striking  distance,  they  found  them 
selves  opposed  by  a  score  of  military  hydroplanes 
that  rose  presently,  with  a  great  whirring  of  propel- 


GERMAN  FLEET  PREVAILS 


lers,  from  the  decks  of  the  German  battle-ships. 
Had  the  Americans  been  able  to  concentrate  here 
their  entire  force  of  fifty  aeroplanes,  the  result  might 
have  been  different;  but  the  fifty  had  been  divided 
along  the  Atlantic  coast — ten  aeroplanes  and  five 
submarines  being  assigned  to  each  harbour  that  was 
to  be  defended. 

Now  came  the  battle.  And  for  hours,  until  night 
fell,  we  watched  a  strange  and  terrible  conflict  be 
tween  these  forces  of  air  and  water.  With  admira 
ble  skill  and  daring  the  American  aeronauts  ma 
noeuvred  for  positions  above  the  Parsevals,  whence 
they  could  drop  bombs;  and  so  swift  and  successful 
were  they  that  two  of  the  enemy's  air-ships  were 
destroyed  before  the  German  aeroplanes  really  came 
into  the  action.  After  that  it  went  badly  for  the 
American  fliers,  which  were  shot  down,  one  by  one, 
until  only  three  of  the  ten  remained.  Then  these 
three,  seeing  destruction  inevitable,  signalled  for  a 
last  united  effort,  and,  all  together,  flew  at  full  speed 
straight  for  the  great  yellow  gas-bag  of  the  biggest 
Parseval  and  for  certain  death.  As  they  tore  into 
the  flimsy  air-ship  there  came  a  blinding  flash,  an 
explosion  that  shook  the  hills,  and  that  brave  deed 
was  done. 

There  remained  two  Parsevals  to  aid  the  enemy's 
fleet  in  its  fight  against  American  submarines,  and 
I  wish  I  might  describe  this  fight  in  more  detail. 
We  saw  a  German  transport  torpedoed  by  the  B-l; 
we  saw  two  submarines  sunk  by  rapid-fire  guns  of 

49 


THE  CONQUEST  OP  AMERICA 

the  destroyers;  we  saw  a  battle-cruiser  crippled  by 
the  glancing  blow  of  a  torpedo;  and  we  saw  the 
K-l  blown  to  pieces  by  bombs  from  the  air-ships. 
Two  American  submarines  were  still  fighting,  and 
of  these  one,  after  narrowly  missing  a  dreadnought, 
sent  a  troop-ship  to  the  bottom,  and  was  itself 
rammed  and  sunk  by  a  destroyer,  the  sea  being 
spread  with  oil.  The  last  submarine  took  to  flight, 
it  seems,  because  her  supply  of  torpedoes  was  ex 
hausted.  And  this  left  the  invaders  free  to  begin 
their  landing  operations. 

During  four  wonderful  days  (the  Germans  were 
favoured  by  light  northeast  breezes)  Palmer  and  I 
hovered  over  these  East  Hampton  shores,  watching 
the  enemy  construct  their  landing  platforms  of  brick 
and  timbers  from  dynamited  houses,  watching  the 
black  transports  as  they  disgorged  from  lighters 
upon  the  gleaming  sand  dunes  their  swarms  of  sol 
diers,  their  thousands  of  horses,  their  artillery,  their 
food  supplies.  There  seemed  no  limit  to  what  these 
mighty  vessels  could  carry. 

We  agreed  that  the  great  50,000-ton  Imperator 
alone  brought  at  least  fifteen  thousand  men  with  all 
that  they  needed.  And  I  counted  twenty  other  huge 
transports;  so  my  conservative  estimate,  cabled  to 
the  paper  by  way  of  Canada, — for  the  direct  cables 
were  cut, — was  that  in  this  invading  expedition  Ger 
many  had  successfully  landed  on  the  shores  of  Long 
Island  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  fully 
equipped  fighting-men.  It  seemed  incredible  that 
50 


AS  THE  GERMAN  LANDING  OPERATIONS  PROCEEDED. 
THE  NEWS  OF  THE  INVASION  SPREAD  OVER  THE 
WHOLE  REGION  WITH  THE  SPEED  OF  ELECTRICITY. 
THE  ENEMY  WAS  COMING!  THE  ENEMY  WAS  HERE'. 
WHAT  WAS  TO  BE  DONE? 


GERMAN  FLEET  PREVAILS 


the  great  United  States,  with  its  vast  wealth  and 
resources,  could  be  thus  easily  invaded;  and  I  re 
called  with  a  pang  what  a  miserable  showing  Eng 
land  had  made  in  1915  from  similar  unpreparedness. 

As  the  German  landing  operations  proceeded,  the 
news  of  the  invasion  spread  over  the  whole  region 
with  the  speed  of  electricity,  and  in  every  town  and 
village  on  Long  Island  angry  and  excited  and  ter 
rified  crowds  cursed  and  shouted  and  wept  in  the 
streets. 

The  enemy  was  coming! 

The  enemy  was  here! 

What  was  to  be  done? 

Should  they  resist? 

And  many  valorous  speeches  in  the  spirit  of  76 
were  made  by  farmers  and  clerks  and  wild-eyed 
women.  What  was  to  be  done? 

In  the  peaceful  town  of  East  Hampton  some  snip 
ing  was  done,  and  afterward  bitterly  repented  of, 
the  occasion  being  the  arrival  of  a  company  of  Uh 
lans  with  gleaming  helmets,  who  galloped  down  the 
elm-lined  main  street  with  requisitions  for  food  and 
supplies. 

Suddenly  a  shot  was  fired  from  Bert  Osborne's 
livery  stable,  then  another  from  White's  drug  store, 
then  several  others,  and  one  of  the  Uhlans  reeled 
in  his  saddle,  slightly  wounded.  Whereupon,  to 
avenge  this  attack  and  teach  Long  Islanders  to  re 
spect  their  masters,  the  German  fleet  was  ordered 
to  shell  the  village. 

51 


Half  an  hour  later  George  Edwards,  who  was 
beating  up  the  coast  in  his  trim  fishing  schooner, 
after  a  two  weeks'  absence  in  Barnegat  Bay  (he 
had  heard  nothing  about  the  war  with  Germany), 
was  astonished  to  see  a  German  soldier  in  formid 
able  helmet  silhouetted  against  the  sky  on  the 
eleventh  tee  of  the  Easthampton  golf  course,  one  of 
the  three  that  rise  above  the  sand  dunes  along  the 
surging  ocean,  wigwagging  signals  to  the  warships 
off  shore.  And,  presently,  Edwards  saw  an  ominous 
puff  of  white  smoke  break  out  from  one  of  the  dread 
noughts  and  heard  the  boom  of  a  twelve-inch  gun. 

The  first  shell  struck  the  stone  tower  of  the  Epis 
copal  church  and  hurled  fragments  of  it  against 
the  vine-covered  cottage  next  door,  which  had  been 
the  home  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  before  of 
John  Howard  Payne,  the  original  "home  sweet 
home." 

The  second  shell  struck  John  Drew's  summer 
home  and  set  it  on  fire;  the  third  wrecked  the  Ca 
sino;  the  fourth  destroyed  Albert  Herter's  studio 
and  slightly  injured  Edward  T.  Cockcroft  and 
Peter  Finley  Dunne,  who  were  playing  tennis  on 
the  lawn.  That  night  scarcely  a  dozen  buildings  in 
this  beautiful  old  town  remained  standing.  And 
the  dead  numbered  more  than  three  hundred,  half 
of  them  being  women  and  children. 


52 


CHAPTER  III 

GERMAN   INVADERS   DRIVE  THE   IRON   INTO  THE  SOUL 
OF    UNPREPARED    AMERICA 

THE  next  week  was  one  of  deep  humiliation  for 
the  American  people.  Our  great  fleet  and  our  great 
Canal,  which  had  cost  so  many  hundreds  of  millions 
and  were  supposed  to  guarantee  the  safety  of  our 
coasts,  had  failed  us  in  this  hour  of  peril. 

Secretary  Alger,  in  the  Spanish  War,  never  re 
ceived  half  the  punishment  that  the  press  now 
heaped  on  the  luckless  officials  of  the  War  and  the 
Navy  Departments. 

The  New  York  Tribune,  in  a  scathing  attack  upon 
the  administration,  said: 

The  blow  has  fallen  and  the  United  States  is 
totally  unprepared  to  meet  it.  Why?  Because  the 
Democratic  party,  during  its  eight  years'  tenure  of 
office,  has  obstinately,  stupidly  and  wickedly  re 
fused  to  do  what  was  necessary  to  make  this  coun 
try  safe  against  invasion  by  a  foreign  power.  There 
has  been  a  surfeit  of  talking,  of  explaining  and  of 
promising,  but  of  definite  accomplishment  very  little, 
and  to-day,  in  our  extreme  peril,  we  find  ourselves, 

53 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

without  an  army  or  a  navy  that  can  cope  with  the 
invaders  and  protect  our  shores  and  our  homes. 

Richard  Harding  Davis,  in  the  Evening  Sun,  de 
nounced  unsparingly  those  Senators  and  Congress 
men  who,  in  1916,  had  voted  against  national  pre 
paredness: 

For  our  present  helpless  condition  and  all  that 
results  from  it,  let  the  responsibility  rest  upon 
these  Senators  and  i  Congressmen,  who,  for  their 
own  selfish  ends,  have  betrayed  the  country. 
They  are  as  guilty  of  treason  as  was  ever 
Benedict  Arnold.  Were  some  of  them  hanged,  the 
sight  of  them  with  their  toes  dancing  on  air 
might  inspire  other  Congressmen  to  consider  the 
safety  of  this  country  rather  than  their  own  re 
election. 

The  New  York  World  published  a  memorable  let 
ter  written  by  Samuel  J.  Tilden  in  December,  1885, 
to  Speaker  Carlisle  of  the  Forty-ninth  Congress  on 
the  subject  of  national  defence  and  pointed  out  that 
Mr.  Tilden  was  a  man  of  far  vision,  intellectually 
the  foremost  democrat  of  his  day.  In  this  letter 
Mr.  Tilden  said: 

The  property  exposed  to  destruction  in  the  twelve 
seaports,  Portland,  Portsmouth,  Boston,  Newport, 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Charleston, 
Savannah,  New  Orleans,  Galveston  and  San  Fran 
cisco,  cannot  be  less  in  value  than  five  thousand 
54 


INVASION  BEGINS 


millions  of  dollars.  .  .  .  While  we  may  afford  to  be 
deficient  in  the  means  of  offence  we  cannot  afford 
to  be  defenceless.  The  notoriety  of  the  fact  that 
we  have  neglected  the  ordinary  precautions  of  de 
fence  invites  want  of  consideration  in  our  di 
plomacy,  injustice,  arrogance  and  insult  at  the 
hands  of  foreign  nations. 

To  add  to  the  general  indignation,  it  transpired 
that  the  American  reserve  fleet,  consisting  of  ten  pre- 
dreadnoughts,  was  tied  up  in  the  docks  of  Phila 
delphia,  unable  to  move  for  lack  of  officers  and 
men  to  handle  them.  After  frantic  orders  from 
Washington  and  the  loss  of  precious  days,  some  two 
thousand  members  of  the  newly  organised  naval  re 
serve  were  rushed  to  Philadelphia;  but  eight  thou 
sand  men  were  needed  to  move  this  secondary  fleet, 
and,  even  if  the  eight  thousand  had  been  forthcom 
ing,  it  would  have  been  too  late;  for  by  this  time 
a  German  dreadnought  was  guarding  the  mouth  of 
Delaware  Bay,  and  these  inferior  ships  would  never 
have  braved  its  guns.  So  here  were  seventy-five 
million  dollars'  worth  of  American  fighting-ships 
rendered  absolutely  useless  and  condemned  to  be 
idle  during  the  whole  war  because  of  bad  organi 
sation. 

Meantime,  the  Germans  were  marching  along  the 
Motor  Parkway  toward  New  York  City  with  an 
army  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  against  which 
General  Wood,  by  incredible  efforts,  was  able  to 
oppose  a  badly  organised,  inharmonious  force  of 

55 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

thirty  thousand,  including  Federals  and  militia  that 
had  never  once  drilled  together  in  large  manosuvres. 
Of  Federal  troops  there  was  one  regiment  of  infan 
try  from  Governor's  Island,  and  this  was  short  of 
men.  There  were  two  infantry  regiments  from 
Forts  Niagara  and  Porter,  in  New  York  State.  Also 
a  regiment  of  colored  cavalry  from  Fort  Ethan  Al 
len,  Vermont,  a  battalion  of  field  artillery  from 
Fort  Myer,  Virginia,  a  battalion  of  engineers  from 
Washington,  D.  C.,  a  battalion  of  coast  artillery 
organised  as  siege  artillery  from  Fort  Dupont,  Dela 
ware,  a  regiment  of  cavalry  from  Fort  Oglethorpe, 
Georgia,  two  regiments  of  infantry  from  Fort 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,  one  regiment  of  field  artil 
lery  from  Fort  Sheridan,  Illinois,  one  regiment  of 
horse  artillery  from  Fort  Riley,  Kansas,  one  regi 
ment  of  infantry  and  one  regiment  of  mountain 
guns  from  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  Wyoming. 

I  may  add  that  at  this  time  the  United  States 
army,  in  spite  of  many  efforts  to  increase  its  size, 
numbered  fewer  than  70,000  men;  and  so  many  of 
these  were  tied  up  as  Coast  Artillery  or  absent  in 
the  Philippines,  Honolulu,  and  the  Canal  Zone,  that 
only  about  30,000  were  available  as  mobile  forces 
for  the  national  defence. 

As  these  various  bodies  of  troops  arrived  in  New 
York  City  and  marched  down  Fifth  Avenue  with 
bands  playing  "Dixie"  and  colours  flying,  the  ex 
citement  of  cheering  multitudes  passed  all  descrip 
tion,  especially  when  Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  familiar 
56 


INVASION  BEGINS 


slouch  hat,  appeared  on  a  big  black  horse  at  the 
head  of  a  hastily  recruited  regiment  of  Rough  Rid 
ers,  many  of  them  veterans  who  had  served  under 
him  in  the  Spanish  War. 

Governor  Malone  reviewed  the  troops  from  the 
steps  of  the  new  Court  House  and  the  crowd  went 
wild  when  the  cadets  from  West  Point  marched 
past,  in  splendid  order.  At  first  I  shared  the  en 
thusiasm  of  the  moment;  but  suddenly  I  realised 
how  pathetic  it  all  was  and  Palmer  seemed  to  see 
that  side  of  it,  too,  though  naturally  he  and  I  avoided 
all  discussion  of  the  future.  In  addition  to  such 
portions  of  the  regular  army  as  General  Wood  could 
gather  together,  his  forces  were  supplemented  by 
infantry  and  cavalry  brigades  of  militia  from  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and 
Massachusetts,  these  troops  being  more  or  less  un 
prepared  for  battle,  more  or  less  lacking  in  the  ac 
cessories  of  battles,  notably  in  field  artillery  and  in 
artillery  equipment  of  men  and  horses.  One  of  the 
aides  on  General  Wood's  staff  told  me  that  the 
combined  American  forces  went  into  action  with 
only  one  hundred  and  fifty  pieces  of  artillery  against 
four  hundred  pieces  that  the  Germans  brought. 

"And  the  wicked  part  of  it  is,"  he  added,  "that 
there  were  two  hundred  other  pieces  of  artillery  we 
might  have  used  if  we  had  had  men  and  horses 
to  operate  them;  but — you  can't  make  an  artillery 
horse  overnight." 

"Nor  a  gun  crew,"  said  I. 

57 


CHAPTER  IV 

INVASION    OF    LONG    ISLAND     AND    THE    BATTLE    OF 
BROOKLYN 

To  meet  this  desperate  situation  and  the  enemy's 
greatly  superior  forces,  General  Wood  decided  not 
to  advance  against  the  Germans,  but  to  intrench 
his  army  across  the  western  end  of  Long  Island, 
with  his  left  flank  resting  on  Fort  Totten,  near  Bay- 
side,  and  his  nine-mile  front  extending  througji 
Creedmore,  Rosedale,  and  Valley  Stream,  where  his 
right  flank  would  be  guarded  from  sea  attack  by 
the  big  guns  of  Fort  Hancock  on  Sandy  Hook,  which 
would  hold  the  German  fleet  at  a  distance. 

Any  military  strategist  will  agree  that  this  was 
the  only  course  for  the  American  commander  to  pur 
sue  under  the  circumstances;  but  unfortunately  pop 
ular  clamour  will  often  have  its  way  in  republics, 
and  hi  this  case  a  violent  three  days'  gale — which 
arrived  providentially,  according  to  some  of  the 
newspapers — gave  an  appearance  of  reason  to  the 
general  demand. 

This  gale  interfered  seriously  with  the  German 
landing  operations, — in  fact,  it  wrecked  one  of  their 
supply-ships, — and,  in  consequence,  such  strong  po- 
58 


BATTLE  OF  BROOKLYN 


litical  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Presi 
dent  that  orders  came  from  Washington  to  General 
Wood  that  he  advance  his  army  against  the  invad 
ers  and  drive  them  into  the  sea.  The  General  made 
a  few  remarks  not  for  publication,  and  obeyed.  As 
he  told  me  afterward,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
result  would  have  been  different  in  any  event. 

In  throwing  forward  his  forces,  General  Wood 
used  the  three  lines  of  railroad  that  cross  Long 
Island  from  west  to  east;  and  on  May  17  his  battle- 
line  reached  from  Patchogue  through  Holtsville  to 
Port  Jefferson.  Meantime,  the  Germans  had  ad 
vanced  to  a  line  that  extended  from  East  Moriches 
to  Manorville;  and  on  May  18  the  first  clash  came 
at  daybreak  in  a  fierce  cavalry  engagement  fought 
at  Yaphank,  in  which  the  enemy  were  driven  back 
in  confusion.  It  was  first  blood  for  the  Americans. 

This  initial  success,  however,  was  soon  changed  to 
disaster.  On  May  19  the  invaders  advanced  again, 
with  strengthened  lines,  under  the  support  of  the 
big  guns  of  their  fleet,  which  stood  offshore  and, 
guided  by  aeroplane  observers,  rained  explosive 
shells  upon  General  Wood's  right  flank  with  such 
accuracy  that  the  Americans  were  forced  to  with 
draw.  Whereupon  the  Germans,  using  the  famous 
hook  formation  that  served  them  so  well  in  their 
drive  across  northern  France  in  the  summer  of 
1914,  pressed  forward  relentlessly,  the  fleet  support 
ing  them  in  a  deadly  flanking  attack  upon  the  Amer 
ican  right  wing. 

59 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

On  May  20  von  Hindenburg  established  his  head 
quarters  at  Forest  Hills,  where,  less  than  a  year 
before,  his  gallant  countryman,  the  great  Fraitz- 
heim,  had  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  wrest  the 
Davis  cup  from  the  American  champion  and  ex- 
champion,  Murray  and  McLoughlin. 

But  that  was  a  year  ago! 

In  the  morning  General  Wood's  forces  continued 
to  retreat,  fighting  with  dogged  courage  in  a  costly 
rear-guard  action,  and  destroying  railroads  and 
bridges  as  they  went.  The  carnage  wrought  by  the 
German  six-  and  eleven-inch  explosive  shells  with 
delayed-action  fuses  was  frightful  beyond  anything 
I  have  ever  known.  Ten  feet  into  the  ground  these 
projectiles  would  bury  themselves  before  explod 
ing,  and  then — well,  no  army  could  stand  against 
them. 

On  May  22  General  Wood  was  driven  back  to  his 
original  line  of  defences  from  Fort  Totten  to  Valley 
Stream,  where  he  now  prepared  to  make  a  last 
stand  to  save  Brooklyn,  which  stretched  behind  him 
with  its  peaceful  spires  and  its  miles  of  comfortable 
homes.  Here  the  Americans  were  safe  from  the 
hideous  pounding  of  the  German  fleet,  and,  although 
their  losses  in  five  days  amounted  to  more  than  six 
thousand  men,  these  had  been  replaced  by  reinforce 
ments  of  militia  from  the  West  and  South.  There 
was  still  hope,  especially  as  the  Germans,  once  they 
advanced  beyond  Westbury  and  its  famous  polo 
fields,  would  come  within  range  of  the  heavy  mortars 
60 


BATTLE  OF  BROOKLYN 


of  Fort  Totten  and  Fort  Hamilton,  which  carried 
thirteen  miles. 

That  night  the  German  commander,  General  von 
Hindenburg,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  called  upon  the 
Americans  to  surrender  in  order  to  save  the  Bor 
ough  of  Brooklyn  from  destruction. 

General  Wood  refused  this  demand;  and  on  May 
23,  at  dawn,  under  cover  of  his  heavy  siege-guns, 
von  Hindenburg  threw  forward  his  veterans  in  ter 
rific  massed  attack,  striking  simultaneously  at  three 
points  with  three  army  divisions — one  in  a  drive  to 
the  right  toward  Fort  Totten,  one  in  a  drive  to  the 
left  toward  Fort  Hamilton,  and  one  hi  a  drive 
straight  ahead  against  General  Wood's  centre  and 
the  heart  of  Brooklyn. 

All  day  the  battle  lasted — the  battle  of  Brooklyn 
— with  house-to-house  fighting  and  repeated  bayo 
net  charges.  And  at  night  the  invaders,  outnum 
bering  the  American  troops  five  to  one,  were  every 
where  victorious.  The  defender's  line  broke  first  at 
Valley  Stream,  where  the  Germans,  led  by  the  fa 
mous  Black  Hussars,  flung  themselves  furiously  with 
cold  steel  upon  the  militiamen  and  put  them  to 
flight.  By  sundown  the  Uhlans  were  galloping,  un 
opposed,  along  the  broad  sweep  of  the  Eastern  Park 
way  and  parallel  streets  towards  Prospect  Park, 
where  the  high  land  offered  an  admirable  site  for 
the  German  artillery,  since  it  commanded  Fort  Ham 
ilton  from  the  rear  and  the  entire  spread  of  Brook 
lyn  and  Manhattan. 

61 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

It  was  now  that  Field  Marshal  von  Hindenburg 
and  his  staff,  speeding  along  the  Parkway  in  dark 
grey  military  automobiles,  witnessed  a  famous  act 
of  youthful  heroism.  As  they  swung  across  the 
Plaza  to  turn  into  Flatbush  Avenue  von  Hinden 
burg  ordered  his  chauffeur  to  slow  up  so  that  he 
might  view  the  Memorial  Arch  and  the  MacMon- 
nies  statues  of  our  Civil  War  heroes,  and  at  this  mo 
ment  a  sharp  burst  of  rifle  fire  sounded  across  Pros 
pect  Park. 

"What  is  that?"  asked  the  commander,  then  he 
ordered  a  staff  officer  to  investigate. 

It  appears  that  on  this  fateful  morning  five  thou 
sand  American  High  School  lads,  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  years  of  age,  members  of  the  Athletic 
League  of  New  York  Public  Schools,  who  had  been 
trained  in  these  schools  to  shoot  accurately,  had 
answered  the  call  for  volunteers  and  rallied  to  the 
defence  of  their  city.  By  trolley,  subway  and  ferry 
they  came  from  all  parts  of  Brooklyn,  Manhattan, 
Harlem,  Staten  Island  and  the  Bronx,  eager  to  show 
what  their  months  of  work  with  subtarget  gun  ma 
chines,  practice  rods  and  gallery  shooting,  also  their 
annual  match  on  the  Peekskill  Rifle  Range,  would 
now  avail  against  the  enemy.  But  when  they  as 
sembled  on  the  Prospect  Parade  Ground,  ready  to 
do  or  die,  they  found  that  the  entire  supply  of  rifles 
for  their  use  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five! 
Seventy-five  Krags,  thirty  Springfields  and  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  Winchesters,  22-calibre  muskets — 
62 


BATTLE  OF  BROOKLYN 


toys  fit  for  shooting  squirrels,  and  only  a  small  sup 
ply  of  cartridges.  The  rifles  available  were  issued  to 
such  of  the  boys  as  had  won  their  badges  of  sharp 
shooter  and  marksman,  two  boys  being  assigned  to 
each  gun,  so  that  if  one  was  shot  the  other  could  go 
on  fighting. 

"It  was  pitiful,"  said  General  George  W.  Wingate, 
President  of  the  League,  who  was  directing  their 
movements,  "to  see  the  grief  of  those  brave  boys 
as  they  heard  the  German  guns  approaching  and 
realised  that  they  had  nothing  to  fight  with.  Five 
thousand  trained  riflemen  and  no  rifles!" 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  flanking  force  of  the 
invading  host  and  presently  it  reached  the  outskirts 
of  this  beautiful  park,  which  with  hill  and  lake  and 
greensward  covers  five  hundred  acres  in  the  heart 
of  Brooklyn.  A  few  boys  were  deployed  as  skirm 
ishers  along  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Park,  but  the 
mass  occupied  hastily  dug  trenches  near  the  mon 
ument  to  the  Maryland  troops  on  Lookout  Hill  and 
the  brass  tablet  that  commemorate  the  battle  of 
Long  Island.  At  these  historic  points  for  half  an 
hour  they  made  a  stand  against  a  Bavarian  regiment 
that  advanced  slowly  under  cover  of  artillery  fire, 
not  realising  that  they  were  sweeping  to  death  a 
crowd  of  almost  unarmed  schoolboys. 

Even  so  the  Americans  did  deadly  execution  un 
til  their  ammunition  was  practically  exhausted. 
Then,  seeing  the  situation  hopeless,  the  head 
coaches,  Emanuel  Haug,  John  A.  C.  Collins,  Don- 

63 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

aid  D.  Smith  and  Paul  B.  Mann,  called  for  volun 
teers  to  hold  the  monument  with  the  few  remaining 
cartridges,  while  the  rest  of  the  boys  retreated.  Hun 
dreds  clamoured  for  this  desperate  honour,  and 
finally  the  coaches  selected  seventy  of  those  who  had 
qualified  as  sharpshooters  to  remain  and  face  al 
most  certain  death,  among  these  being:  Jack  Con 
don  of  the  Morris  High  School,  J.  Vernet  (Manual 
Training),  Lynn  Briggs  (Erasmus),  Isaac  Smith 
(Curtis),  Charles  Mason  (Commercial),  C.  Anthony 
(Bryant),  J.  Rosenfeld  (Stuyvesant),  V.  Doran 
(Flushing),  M.  Marnash  (Eastern  District),  F. 
Scanlon  (Bushwick),  Winthrop  F.  Foskett  (De  Witt 
Clinton),  and  Richard  Humphries  (Jamaica). 

Such  was  the  situation  when  Field  Marshal  von 
Hindenburg  dashed  up  in  his  motor  car.  Seventy 
young  American  patriots  on  top  of  Lookout  Hill, 
with  their  last  rounds  of  toy  ammunition,  were 
holding  back  a  German  regiment  while  their  com 
rades  fled  for  their  lives.  And  surely  they  would 
have  been  a  martyred  seventy,  since  the  Bavarians 
were  about  to  charge  in  full  force,  had  not  von  Hin 
denburg  taken  in  the  situation  at  a  glance  and 
shouted: 

"Halt!  It  is  not  fitting  that  a  German  regiment 
shall  use  its  strength  against  a  handful  of  boys. 
Let  them  guard  their  monument!  March  on!" 

Meantime,  to  the  east  and  north  of  the  city  the 
battle  raged  and  terror  spread  among  the  populace. 
All  eyes  were  fixed  on  New  York  as  a  haven  of 
64 


BATTLE  OF  BROOKLYN 


refuge  and,  by  the  bridge,  ferry  and  tunnel,  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  made  their  escape  from  Brook 
lyn. 

The  three  great  bridges  stretching  their  giant 
black  arms  across  the  river  were  literally  packed 
with  people — fathers,  mothers,  children,  all  on  foot, 
for  the  trolleys  were  hopelessly  blocked.  A  man 
told  me  afterwards  that  it  took  him  seven  hours 
to  cross  with  his  wife  and  their  two  little  girls. 

Other  swarms  hovered  about  the  tunnel  entrances 
and  stormed  the  ferry-boats  at  their  slips.  Every 
craft  in  the  harbour  carried  its  load.  The  Pennsyl 
vania  and  Erie  ferries  from  the  other  side  of  Man 
hattan,  the  Staten  Island  boats,  the  Coney  Island 
and  other  excursion  steamers,  struggled  through  the 
press  of  sea  traffic  and  I  heard  that  three  of  these 
vessels  sank  of  their  own  weight.  Here  and  there, 
hardly  discernible  among  the  larger  craft,  were  the 
small  boats,  life-boats,  canoes,  anything  and  every 
thing  that  would  float,  each  bearing  its  little  group 
to  a  precarious  safety  on  Manhattan  Island. 

Meantime,  Fort  Totten  and  Fort  Hamilton  had 
been  taken  from  the  rear  by  overwhelming  forces, 
and  their  mortars  had  been  used  to  silence  the  guns 
of  Fort  Schuyler  and  Fort  Wadsworth.  In  this  emer 
gency,  seeing  the  situation  hopeless,  General  Wood 
withdrew  his  forces  in  good  order  under  cover  of  a 
rear-guard  action  between  the  Uhlans  and  the 
United  States  colored  cavalry,  and,  hurrying  before 
him  the  crowds  of  fleeing  civilians,  marched  his 

65 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

troops  in  three  divisions  across  the  Brooklyn  Bridge, 
leaving  Brooklyn  in  flames  behind  him.  Then  facing 
inexorable  necessity,  he  ordered  his  engineers  to 
blow  up  these  three  beautiful  spans  that  had  cost 
hundreds  of  millions,  and  to  flood  the  subways  be 
tween  Brooklyn  and  Manhattan. 

Seen  through  the  darkness  at  the  moment  of  its 
ruin  the  vast  steel  structure  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge, 
with  its  dim  arches  and  filaments,  was  like  a  thing 
of  exquisite  lace.  In  shreds  it  fell,  a  tangled,  twisted, 
tragically  wrecked  piece  of  magnificence. 


66 


CHAPTER  V 

GENERAL     VON     HINDENBURG     TEACHES     NEW     YORK 
CITY    A    LESSON 

ON  May  24,  1921,  the  situation  of  New  York 
City  was  seen  to  be  desperate,  and  most  of  the  news 
papers,  even  those  that  had  clamoured  loudest  for 
resistance  and  boasted  of  American  valour  and  re 
sourcefulness,  now  admitted  that  the  metropolis 
must  submit  to  a  German  occupation. 

Even  the  women  among  the  public  officials  and 
political  leaders  were  inclined  to  a  policy  of  non- 
resistance.  General  Wood  was  urged  to  surren 
der  the  city  and  avoid  the  horrors  of  bombard 
ment;  but  the  commander  replied  that  his  first 
duty  was  to  defend  the  territory  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  every  day  he  could  keep  the  enemy 
isolated  on  Long  Island  was  a  day  gained  for  the 
permanent  defences  that  were  frantically  organising 
all  over  the  country. 

It  was  vital,  too,  that  the  immense  stores  of  gold 
and  specie  in  the  vaults  of  the  Federal  Reserve  and 
other  great  New  York  banks  should  be  safely  trans 
ported  to  Chicago. 

All  day  and  all  night,  automobile  trucks,  operated 

67 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

under  orders  from  William  G.  McAdoo,  Governor 
of  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank,  loaded  with  millions 
and  millions  of  gold,  passed  unprotected  and  almost 
unheeded  through  the  crowded  section  between  Wall 
Street  and  the  Grand  Central  Station.  The  peo 
ple  stared  at  them  dumbly.  They  knew  what  was 
going  on.  They  knew  they  could  have  a  fortune 
by  reaching  out  their  hands.  But  at  this  moment, 
with  their  eternities  in  their  eyes,  they  had  no 
thought  of  gold.  Hour  after  hour  the  work  went 
on.  Finally,  subway  trains  and  street  cars  were 
pressed  into  service  as  treasure-carriers. 

By  night  $800,000,000  had  started  West  and  the 
next  morning  Chicago  was  the  financial  capital  of 
America. 

At  midnight  General  Wood  gave  final  orders  for 
resistance  to  the  last  gun  and  the  last  man;  and, 
when  early  the  next  morning  the  German  general 
again  sent  officers  with  a  flag  of  truce  demanding 
the  surrender  of  Manhattan  Island,  Wood's  reply 
was  a  firm  refusal.  He  tried,  however,  to  gain  time 
in  negotiations;  and  a  few  hours  later  I  accom 
panied  a  delegation  of  American  staff  officers  with 
counter-proposals  across  the  East  River  in  a  launch. 
I  can  see  von  Hindenburg  now,  in  his  high  boots 
and  military  coat,  as  he  received  the  American  of 
ficers  at  the  foot  of  the  shattered  Brooklyn  Bridge. 
A  square  massive  head  with  close-cropped  white 
hair,  brushed  straight  back  from  a  broad  forehead. 
And  sad  searching  eyes — wonderful  eyes. 
68 


NEW  YORK  GETS  A  LESSON 


"Then  you  refuse  to  surrender?  You  think  you 
can  fight?"  the  Field  Marshal  demanded. 

At  which  the  ranking  American  officer,  stung  by 
his  arrogance,  declared  that  they  certainly  did  think 
they  could  fight,  and  would  prove  it. 

"Ah!  So!"  said  von  Hindenburg,  and  he  glanced 
at  a  gun  crew  who  were  loading  a  half-ton  projec 
tile  into  an  11.1-inch  siege-gun  that  stood  on  the 
pavement.  "Which  is  the  Woolworth  Building?" 
he  asked,  pointing  across  the  river. 

"The  tallest  one,  Excellency — the  one  with  the 
Gothic  lines  and  gilded  cornices,"  replied  one  of  his 
officers. 

"Ah,  yes,  of  course.  I  recognise  it  from  the  pic 
tures.  It's  beautiful.  Gentlemen," — he  addressed 
the  American  officers, — "I  am  offering  twenty-dol 
lar  gold  pieces  to  this  gun  crew  if  they  bring  down 
that  tower  with  a  single  shot.  Now,  then,  care 
ful!  .  .  . 

"Ready!" 

We  covered  our  ears  as  the  shot  crashed  forth,  and 
a  moment  later  the  most  costly  and  graceful  tower 
in  the  world  seemed  to  stagger  on  its  base.  Then, 
as  the  thousand-pound  shell,  striking  at  the  twenty- 
seventh  story,  exploded  deep  inside,  clouds  of  yellow 
smoke  poured  out  through  the  crumbling  walls, 
and  the  huge  length  of  twenty-four  stories  above 
the  jagged  wound  swayed  slowly  toward  the  east, 
and  fell  as  one  piece,  flinging  its  thousands  of  tons 
of  stone  and  steel  straight  across  the  width  of  Broad- 

69 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

way,  and  down  upon  the  grimy  old  Post  Office 
Building  opposite. 

"Sehr  gut!"  nodded  von  Hindenburg.  "It's  amus 
ing  to  see  them  fall.  Suppose  we  try  another? 
What's  that  one  to  the  left?" 

"The  Singer  Building,  Excellency,"  answered  the 
officer. 

"Good!    Are  you  ready?" 

Then  the  tragedy  was  repeated,  and  six  hundred 
more  were  added  to  the  death  toll,  as  the  great 
tower  crumbled  to  earth. 

"Now,  gentlemen," — von  Hindenburg  turned 
again  to  the  American  officers  with  a  tiger  gleam  in 
his  eyes, — "you  see  what  we  have  done  with  two 
shots  to  two  of  your  tallest  and  finest  buildings. 
At  this  time  to-morrow,  with  God's  help,  we  shall 
have  a  dozen  guns  along  this  bank  of  the  river, 
ready  for  whatever  may  be  necessary.  And  two  of 
our  Parsevals,  each  carrying  a  ton  of  dynamite,  will 
float  over  New  York  City.  I  give  you  until  twelve 
o'clock  to-morrow  to  decide  whether  you  will  resist 
or  capitulate.  At  twelve  o'clock  we  begin  firing." 

Our  instructions  were  to  return  at  once  in  the 
launch  by  the  shortest  route  to  the  Battery,  where 
automobiles  were  waiting  to  take  us  to  General 
Wood's  headquarters  in  the  Metropolitan  Tower.  I 
can  close  my  eyes  to-day  and  see  once  more  those 
pictures  of  terror  and  despair  that  were  spread  be 
fore  us  as  we  whirled  through  the  crowded  streets 
behind  the  crashing  hoofs  of  a  cavalry  escort.  The 
70 


NEW  YORK  GETS  A  LESSON 


people  knew  who  we  were,  where  we  had  been, 
and  they  feared  what  our  message  might  be. 

Broadway,  of  course,  was  impassable  where  the 
mass  of  red  brick  from  the  Singer  Building  filled 
the  great  canon  as  if  a  glacier  had  spread  over  the 
region,  or  as  if  the  lava  from  a  man-made  ^Etna 
had  choked  this  great  thoroughfare. 

Through  the  side  streets  we  snatched  hasty  im 
pressions  of  unforgetable  scenes.  Into  the  densely 
populated  regions  around  Grand  and  Houston 
Streets  the  evicted  people  of  Brooklyn  had  poured. 
And  into  the  homes  of  these  miserably  poor  people, 
where  you  can  walk  for  blocks  without  hearing  a 
word  in  the  English  tongue,  Brooklyn's  derelicts  had 
been  absorbed  by  tens  of  thousands. 

Here  came  men  and  women  from  all  parts  of 
Manhattan,  the  rich  hi  their  automobiles,  the  poor 
on  foot,  bearing  bundles  of  food  and  eager  to  help 
in  the  work  of  humanity.  And  some,  alas,  were 
busy  with  the  sinister  business  of  looting. 

Above  Fourteenth  Street  we  had  glimpses  of 
similar  scenes  and  I  learned  later  that  almost  every 
family  in  Manhattan  received  some  Brooklyn  home 
less  ones  into  their  care.  New  York — for  once — 
was  hospitable. 

In  Madison  Square  the  people  waited  in  silence  as 
we  approached  the  great  white  tower  from  which 
the  Commander  of  the  Army  of  the  East,  unmindful 
of  the  fate  of  the  Woolworth  and  the  Singer  build 
ings,  watched  for  further  moves  from  the  fortified 

71 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

shores  of  Brooklyn.  Not  a  shout  greeted  our  ar 
rival  at  the  marble  entrance  facing  the  square,  not 
even  that  murmur  of  expectancy  which  sweeps  over 
a  tense  gathering.  The  people  knew  the  answer  of 
von  Hindenburg.  They  had  read  it,  as  had  all  the 
world  for  miles  around,  in  the  cataclysm  of  the 
plunging  towers. 

New  York  must  surrender  or  perish! 

Scarcely  three  blocks  away,  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety,  numbering  one  hundred,  sat  in  agi 
tated  council  at  the  Madison  Square  Garden,  while 
enormous  crowds,  shouting  and  murmuring,  surged 
outside,  where  five  hundred  armed  policemen  tried 
vainly  to  quell  the  spirit  of  riot  that  was  in  the  air. 
Far  into  the  night  the  discussion  lasted,  while  over 
head  in  the  purple-black  sky  floated  the  two  Par- 
sevals,  ominous  visitors,  their  search-lights  playing 
over  the  helpless  city  that  was  to  feel  their  wrath 
on  the  morrow  unless  it  yielded. 

Meantime,  on  the  square  platform  within  the 
great  Moorish  building,  a  hundred  leading  citizens 
of  Manhattan,  including  the  ablest  and  the  richest 
and  a  few  of  the  most  radical,  spoke  their  minds, 
while  thousands  of  men  and  women,  packed  in  the 
galleries  and  the  aisles,  listened  heart-sick  for  some 
gleam  of  comfort. 

And  there  was  none. 

Among  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  I  recog 
nised  J.  P.  Morgan,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  John  D.  Rocke 
feller,  Charles  F.  Murphy,  Andrew  Carnegie,  Vin- 
72 


NEW  YORK  GETS  A  LESSON 


cent  Astor,  Cardinal  Farley,  Colonel  Jacob  Ruppert, 
Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  S.  Stanwood  Menken,  Paul 
M.  Warburg,  John  Finley,  Mrs.  0.  H.  P.  Belmont, 
James  E.  Gaffney,  Ida  Tarbell,  Norman  Hapgood, 
William  Randolph  Hearst,  Senator  Whitman,  Ber 
nard  Ridder,  Frank  A.  Munsey,  Henry  Morgenthau, 
Elihu  Root,  Henry  L.  Stimson,  Franklin  Q.  Brown, 
John  Mitchell,  John  Wanamaker,  Dr.  Parkhurst, 
Thomas  A.  Edison,  Colonel  George  Harvey,  Douglas 
Robinson,  John  Hays  Hammond,  Theodore  Shonts, 
William  Dean  Howells,  Alan  R.  Hawley,  Samuel 
Gompers,  August  Belmont,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw, 
the  Rev.  Percy  Stickney  Grant,  Judge  E.  H.  Gary, 
Emerson  McMillin,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  and  ex- 
Mayor  Mitchel. 

Former  President  Wilson  motored  over  from 
Princeton,  accompanied  by  Professor  McClellan,  and 
was  greeted  with  cheers.  Ex-President  Taft  was 
speaking  at  the  time,  advocating  a  dignified  appeal 
to  the  Hague  Tribunal  for  an  adjudication  of  the 
matter  according  to  international  law.  Nearly  all 
of  the  speakers  favoured  non-resistance,  so  far  as 
New  York  City  was  concerned.  With  scarcely  a 
dissenting  voice,  the  great  financial  and  business  in 
terests  represented  here  demanded  that  New  York 
City  capitulate  immediately. 

Whereupon  Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  had  just  en 
tered  the  Garden  with  his  uniform  still  smeared  with 
Long  Island  mud,  sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried  out 
that  he  would  rather  see  Manhattan  Island  sunk 

73 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

in  the  Bay  than  disgraced  by  so  cowardly  a  sur 
render.  There  was  still  hope,  he  declared.  The 
East  River  was  impassable  for  the  enemy.  All  ship 
ping  had  been  withdrawn  from  Brooklyn  shores, 
and  the  German  fleet  dared  not  enter  the  Ambrose 
Channel  and  the  lower  bay  so  long  as  the  Sandy 
Hook  guns  held  out. 

"We  are  a  great  nation,"  Roosevelt  shouted,  "full 
of  courage  and  resourcefulness.  Let  us  stand  to 
gether  against  these  invaders,  as  our  forefathers1 
stood  at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill!" 

During  the  cheers  that  followed  this  harangue, 
my  attention  was  drawn  to  an  agitated  group  on 
the  platform,  the  central  figure  being  Bernard  Rid- 
der,  recognised  leader  of  the  large  German-Ameri 
can  population  of  New  York  City  that  had  remained 
staunchly  loyal  in  the  crisis.  Presently  a  clamour 
from  the  crowd  outside,  sharper  and  fiercer  than 
any  that  had  preceded  it,  announced  some  new  and 
unexpected  danger  close  at  hand. 

White-faced,  Mr.  Ridder  stepped  to  the  edge  of 
the  platform  and  lifted  his  hand  impressively. 

"Let  me  speak,"  he  said.  "I  must  speak  in  jus 
tice  to  myself  and  to  half  a  million  German- Ameri 
cans  of  this  city,  who  are  placed  in  a  terrible  po 
sition  by  news  that  I  have  just  received.  I  wish 
to  say  that  we  are  Americans  first,  not  Germans! 
We  are  loyal  to  the  city,  loyal  to  this  country,  and 
whatever  happens  here  to-night " 

At  this  moment  a  tumult  of  shouts  was  heard  at 
74 


NEW  YORK  GETS  A  LESSON 


the  Madison  Avenue  entrance,  and  above  it  a  shrill 
purring  sound  that  seemed  to  strike  consternation 
into  an  army  officer  who  sat  beside  me. 

"My  God!"  he  cried.    "The  machine-guns!    The 
Germans  are  in  the  streets!" 


75 


CHAPTER  VI 

VARIOUS   UNPLEASANT   HAPPENINGS    IN    MANHATTAN 

I  SHALL  never  forget  the  horror  of  that  hoarse 
cry: 

"The  Germans  are  hi  the  streets!" 

What  followed  was  still  more  terrifying.  Some 
where  at  the  back  of  the  Garden,  a  piercing  whistle 
cut  the  air — evidently  a  signal — and  suddenly  we 
found  ourselves  facing  a  ghastly  tragedy,  and  were 
made  to  realise  the  resistless  superiority  of  a  small 
body  of  disciplined  troops  over  a  disorganised  mul 
titude. 

"Fertig!  Los!  Hup!"  shouted  a  loud  voice  (it  was 
a  man  with  a  megaphone)  in  the  first  gallery  op 
posite  the  platform.  Every  face  in  that  tremendous 
throng  turned  at  once  in  the  direction  of  the  stran 
ger's  voice.  And  before  the  immense  audience  knew 
what  was  happening,  five  hundred  German  soldiers, 
armed  with  pistols  and  repeating  rifles,  had  sprung 
to  life,  alert  and  formidable,  at  vantage-points  all 
over  the  Garden.  Two  hundred,  with  weapons 
ready,  guarded  the  platform  and  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety.  And,  in  little  groups  of  threes  and 
fives,  back  to  back,  around  the  iron  columns  that 
76 


THE  INDEMNITY 


rose  through  the  galleries,  stood  three  hundred  more 
with  flashing  barrels  levelled  at  the  crowds. 

I  counted  fifteen  of  these  dominating  groups  of 
soldiers  in  the  northern  half  of  the  lower  gallery, 
and  it  was  the  same  in  the  southern  half  and  the 
same  on  both  sides  of  the  upper  gallery,  which  made 
sixty  armed  groups  in  sixty  strategic  positions. 
There  was  nothing  for  the  crowd  to  do  but  yield. 

"Pass  out,  everybody!"  screamed  the  megaphone 
man.  "We  fire  at  the  first  disorder." 

"Out,  everybody!"  roared  the  soldiers.  "We  fire 
at  the  first  disorder." 

As  if  to  emphasise  this,  an  automatic  pistol 
crackled  at  the  far  end  of  the  Garden,  and  frantic 
crowds  pushed  for  the  doors  in  abject  terror.  There 
was  no  thought  of  resistance. 

"Use  all  the  exits,"  yelled  the  megaphone  man; 
and  the  order  was  passed  on  by  the  soldiers  from 
group  to  group.  And  presently  there  rolled  out  into 
the  streets  and  avenues  through  the  thirty  great 
doors  and  down  the  six  outside  stairways  that  zig 
zag  across  the  building  such  streams  of  white-faced, 
staggering,  fainting  humanity  as  never  had  been  seen 
on  Manhattan  Island. 

I  was  driven  out  with  the  others  (except  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety),  and  was  happy  to  find 
myself  with  a  whole  skin  in  Twenty-sixth  Street 
opposite  the  Manhattan  Club.  As  I  passed  a  group 
of  German  soldiers  near  the  door,  I  observed  that 
they  wore  grey  uniforms.  I  wondered  at  this  until 

77 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

I  saw  overcoats  at  their  feet,  and  realised  that  they 
had  entered  the  Garden  like  spies  with  the  audience 
of  citizens,  their  uniforms  and  weapons  being  con 
cealed  under  ordinary  outer  garments,  which  they 
had  thrown  off  at  the  word  of  command. 

We  stumbled  into  the  street,  and  were  driven 
roughly  by  other  German  soldiers  toward  the  open 
space  of  Madison  Square.  We  fled  over  red  and 
slippery  pavements,  strewn  with  the  bodies  of  dead 
and  wounded  policemen  and  civilians — the  hideous 
harvest  of  the  machine-guns.  At  the  corner  of 
Madison  Avenue  and  Twenty-fifth  Street  I  saw  an 
immense  coal-carrying  motor-truck  with  plates  of 
iron  covering  its  four  sides,  and  through  loopholes 
in  the  plates  I  saw  murderous  muzzles  protruding. 

It  appears  that  shortly  after  midnight,  at  the 
height  of  the  debate,  four  of  these  armoured  cars 
came  lumbering  toward  the  Garden  from  west 
and  east,  north  and  south;  and,  as  they  neared  the 
four  corners  of  the  immense  yellow  building,  with 
out  warning  they  opened  fire  upon  the  police,  which 
meant  inevitably  upon  the  crowd  also.  In  each 
truck  were  a  dozen  soldiers  and  six  machine-guns, 
each  one  capable  of  firing  six  hundred  shots  a  min 
ute.  There  was  no  chance  for  resistance,  and  within 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  streets  surrounding  the 
Garden  were  a  shambles.  On  Madison  Avenue, 
just  in  front  of  the  main  entrance,  I  saw  bodies 
lying  three  deep,  many  of  them  hideously  mutilated 
by  the  explosive  effects  of  these  bullets  at  short 
78 


THE  INDEMNITY 


range.  As  I  stepped  across  the  curb  in  front  of  the 
S.  P.  C.  A.  building,  I  cried  out  in  horror;  for  there 

on  the  sidewalk  lay  a  young  mother But  why 

describe  the  horror  of  that  scene? 

With  difficulty  I  succeeded  in  hiring  a  taxicab 
and  set  out  to  find  General  Wood  or  some  officer 
of  his  staff  from  whom  I  might  get  an  understand 
ing  of  these  tragic  events.  Who  were  those  Ger 
man  soldiers  at  the  Garden?  Where  did  they  come 
from?  Were  they  German-Americans? 

It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  before  I  lo 
cated  General  Wood  at  the  plaza  of  the  Queensbor- 
ough  Bridge,  where  he  was  overseeing  the  placing 
of  some  artillery  pieces.  He  was  too  busy  to  talk 
to  me,  but  from  one  of  his  aides  I  learned  that  the 
soldiers  at  the  Madison  Square  Garden  were  not 
German- Americans  and  were  not  von  Hindenburg's 
men,  but  were  part  of  that  invisible  army  of  Ger 
man  spies  that  invariably  precedes  the  invading 
forces  of  the  Kaiser.  Arriving  a  few  hundred  at  a 
time  for  a  period  of  more  than  three  years,  50,000 
of  these  German  spies,  fully  armed  and  equipped, 
now  held  New  York  at  their  mercy.  More  than 
that,  they  had  in  their  actual  physical  possession 
the  men  who  owned  half  the  wealth  of  the  nation. 
That  New  York  would  capitulate  was  a  foregone 
conclusion. 

After  cabling  this  news,  I  went  back  to  my  hotel, 
the  old  Brevoort,  for  a  snatch  of  sleep ;  and  at  half- 
past  eight  I  was  out  in  the  streets  again.  The  first 

79 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

thing  that  caught  my  eye  was  a  black-lettered  proc 
lamation — posted  by  German  spies,  no  doubt — over 
Henri's  barber  shop,  and  signed  by  General  von 
Hindenburg,  announcing  the  capitulation  of  New 
York  City.  The  inhabitants  were  informed  that 
t/hey  had  nothing  to  fear.  Their  lives  and  property 
would  be  protected,  and  they  would  find  the  Ger 
mans  just  and  generous  in  all  their  dealings.  Food 
and  supplies  would  be  paid  for  at  the  market  price, 
and  citizens  would  be  recompensed  for  all  services 
rendered.  The  activities  of  New  York  would  go  on 
as  usual,  and  there  would  be  no  immediate  occupa 
tion  of  Manhattan  Island  by  German  troops.  All 
orders  from  the  conquering  army  in  Brooklyn  must 
be  implicitly  obeyed,  under  penalty  of  bombard 
ment. 

I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes.  New  York  City 
had  capitulated !  I  asked  a  man  beside  me — an  agi 
tated  citizen  in  an  orange  tie — whether  this  could 
be  true.  He  said  it  was — all  the  morning  papers 
confirmed  it.  The  immense  pressure  from  Wall 
Street  upon  Washington,  owing  to  the  hold-up  of 
multimillionaires,  had  resulted  in  orders  from  the 
President  that  the  city  surrender  and  that  General 
Wood's  forces  withdraw  to  New  Jersey. 

"What  about  John  D.  Rockefeller  and  Andrew 
Carnegie  and  J.  P.  Morgan  and  the  other  hostages?" 
I  asked. 

"The  Sun  says  they  have  been  taken  over  to 
80 


THE  INDEMNITY 


Brooklyn  where  the  German  army  is,  and  they've 
got  to  raise  a  billion  dollars  in  gold." 

"A  billion  dollars  in  gold!" 

"Sure;  as  an  indemnity  for  New  York  City.  You'll 
notice  we  could  have  bought  a  few  defences  for 
that  billion,"  sniffed  the  angry  citizen. 

Things  moved  rapidly  after  this.  All  the  ship 
ping  in  waters  about  the  island  metropolis,  includ 
ing  ferry-boats,  launches,  pilot-boats,  everything 
that  floated,  was  delivered  over  to  the  Germans. 
The  Sandy  Hook  defences  were  delivered  over,  and 
the  rivers  and  bays  were  cleared  of  mines.  All  mo 
tor-cars,  supplies  of  gasolene,  firearms,  and  ammu 
nition  in  New  York  City  were  seized  and  removed 
to  Brooklyn.  The  telephone  service  was  taken  over 
by  the  Germans  and  operated  by  them,  chiefly  for 
military  purposes.  The  mail  service  ceased.  The 
newspapers  were  ordered  not  to  appear — with  the 
exception  of  the  Staats-Zeitung,  which  became  the 
official  organ  of  the  invaders  and  proceeded  to  pub 
lish  editions  in  English  as  well  as  German. 

"What  will  happen  if  we  go  ahead  and  get  out 
the  paper  in  spite  of  your  order?"  inquired  the  city 
editor  of  the  Evening  Journal  when  a  youthful  Prus 
sian  officer  informed  him  that  the  paper  must  not 
appear. 

"Oh,  you  will  be  shot  and  William  Randolph 
Hearst  will  be  shot,"  said  the  officer  pleasantly. 

About  noon  on  the  day  of  capitulation,  May  25, 
1921,  a  company  of  German  soldiers  with  two  ma- 

81 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

chine  guns,  two  ammunition  carts  and  a  line  of  mo 
tor  trucks  landed  at  the  Battery  and  marched  quietly 
up  Broadway,  then  turned  into  Wall  Street  and 
stopped  outside  the  banking  house  of  J.  P.  Morgan 
&  Co.  A  captain  of  hussars  in  brilliant  uniform 
and  wearing  an  eyeglass  went  inside  with  eight  of 
his  men  and  explained  politely  to  the  manager  that 
the  Germans  had  arranged  with  J.  P.  Morgan  per 
sonally  that  they  were  to  receive  five  million  dollars 
a  day  in  gold  on  account  of  the  indemnity  and,  as 
four  days'  payment,  that  is  twenty  million  dollars, 
were  now  due,  the  captain  would  be  obliged  if  the 
manager  would  let  him  have  twenty  million  dol 
lars  in  gold  immediately.  Also  a  match  for  his 
cigarette. 

The  manager,  greatly  disturbed,  assured  the  cap 
tain  that  there  was  not  as  much  money  as  that 
in  the  bank,  all  the  gold  in  New  York  having  been 
sent  out  of  the  city. 

"Ah!"  said  the  officer  with  a  smile.  "That  will 
simply  put  you  to  the  trouble  of  having  it  sent  back 
again.  You  see,  we  hold  the  men  who  own  this 
gold.  Besides,  I  think  you  can,  with  an  effort,  get 
together  this  trifling  amount." 

The  manager  vowed  it  was  utterly  impossible, 
whereupon  the  captain  motioned  to  one  of  his  men, 
who,  it  turned  out,  had  been  for  years  a  trusted  em 
ploye  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.  and  had  made  himself 
familiar  with  every  detail  of  Wall  Street  affairs. 
He  knew  where  a  reserve  store  of  gold  was  hidden 
82 


THE  INDEMNITY 


and  the  consequence  was  that  half  an  hour  later 
the  German  soldiers  marched  back  to  the  Battery, 
their  motor  trucks  groaning  under  the  weight  of 
twenty  million  dollars  in  double  eagles  and  bullion. 

"You  see,  we  need  some  small  change  to  buy  eggs 
and  chickens  and  vegetables  with,"  laughed  the  of 
ficer.  "We  are  very  particular  to  pay  for  every 
thing  we  take." 

An  hour  later  the  first  show  of  resistance  to  Ger 
man  authority  came  when  a  delegation  of  staff  of 
ficers  from  General  von  Hindenburg  visited  the  city 
hall  to  instruct  Mayor  McAneny  as  to  the  efficient 
running  of  the  various  municipal  departments.  I 
had  the  details  of  this  conference  from  the  mayor's 
private  secretary.  The  officers  announced  that  there 
would  be  no  interference  with  the  ordinary  life  of 
the  city  so  long  as  the  results  were  satisfactory. 
Business  must  go  on  as  usual.  Theatres  and  places 
of  amusement  were  to  remain  open.  The  city  must 
be  gay,  just  as  Berlin  was  gay  in  1915. 

On  the  other  hand  any  disorder  or  failure  to 
provide  for  German  needs  in  the  matter  of  food  and 
supplies  would  be  severely  dealt  with.  Every  morn 
ing  there  must  be  delivered  at  the  foot  of  Fulton 
Street,  Brooklyn,  definite  quantities  of  meat,  poul 
try,  eggs,  butter,  vegetables,  flour,  milk,  sugar, 
fruits,  beer,  coffee,  tea,  besides  a  long  and  detailed 
list  of  army  supplies. 

"Suppose  we  cannot  get  these  things?"  protested 

83 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

the  mayor.  "Suppose  the  train  service  to  New 
York  is  cut  off  by  General  Wood's  army?" 

"Hah!"  snorted  a  red-faced  colonel  of  artillery. 
"There  are  two  and  a  half  million  Americans  on 
Manhattan  Island — and  we'll  see  that  they  stay 
there — who  will  starve  within  one  week  if  General 
Wood  cuts  off  the  train  service.  I  don't  think  he 
will  cut  it  off,  Mr.  McAneny." 

"Besides,  my  dear  sir,"  drawled  a  slender  Eng 
lish-looking  officer,  wearing  the  iron  cross,  "if  there 
should  be  any  interference  with  our  food  supply, 
remember  that  we  can  destroy  your  gas  and  elec 
tric  lighting  plants,  we  can  cripple  your  transpor 
tation  system  and  possibly  cut  off  your  water  supply 
with  a  few  well  directed  shots.  Don't  forget  that, 
Mr.  McAneny." 

The  trouble  began  as  these  German  officers 
walked  down  Broadway  with  a  small  escort  of  sol 
diers.  Whenever  they  passed  a  policeman  they 
required  him  to  salute,  in  accordance  with  published 
orders,  but  a  big  Irishman  was  defiant  and  the  of 
ficers  stopped  to  teach  him  manners.  At  which  a 
crowd  gathered  that  blocked  Broadway  and  the  of 
ficers  were  insulted  and  jostled  and  one  of  them 
lost  his  helmet.  There  was  no  serious  disorder,  but 
the  Germans  made  it  a  matter  of  principle  and  an 
hour  later  the  Stoats  Zeitung  came  out  with  a  spe 
cial  edition  announcing  that,  inasmuch  as  disrespect 
had  been  shown  to  five  German  officers  by  a  Broad 
way  crowd,  it  now  became  necessary  to  give  the 
84 


THE  INDEMNITY 


city  an  object  lesson  that  would,  it  was  hoped,  pre 
vent  such  a  regrettable  occurrence  in  the  future. 
That  evening  five  six-inch  shells  would  be  fired  by 
German  siege  guns  in  Brooklyn  at  five  indicated 
open  spaces  in  Manhattan,  these  being  chosen  to 
avoid  losses  of  life  and  property.  The  first  shell 
would  be  fired  at  seven  o'clock  and  would  strike  in 
Battery  Park;  the  second  at  7.05  and  would  strike 
in  Union  Square;  the  third  at  7.10  and  would  strike 
in  Madison  Square;  the  fourth  at  7.15  and  would 
strike  in  Stuyvesant  Square;  the  fifth  at  7.20  and 
would  strike  in  Central  Park  just  north  of  the  Plaza. 

This  announcement  was  carried  out  to  the  letter, 
the  five  shells  exploding  at  the  exact  points  and 
moments  indicated,  and  the  people  realised  with 
what  horrible  precision  the  German  artillery-men 
held  Manhattan  island  at  their  mercy. 

The  newspapers  also  received  their  object  lesson 
through  the  action  of  the  Evening  Telegram  in 
bringing  out  an  extra  announcing  the  bombardment. 
My  own  desk  being  in  the  foreign  editor's  room,  I 
witnessed  this  grim  occurrence.  At  half-past  five  a 
boyish-looking  lieutenant  sauntered  in  and  asked 
for  the  managing  editor,  who  was  sitting  with  his 
feet  on  a  desk. 

"Good-evening,"  said  the  German.  "You  have 
disobeyed  orders  in  getting  out  this  edition.  I  am 
sorry." 

The  editor  stared  at  him,  not  understanding. 
"Well,  what's  the  answer?" 

85 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

The  officer's  eyes  were  sympathetic  and  his  tone 
friendly.  He  glanced  at  his  wrist  watch.  "The  an 
swer  is  that  I  give  you  twenty  minutes  to  tele 
phone  your  family,  then  I'm  going  to  take  you  up 
on  the  roof  and  have  you  shot.  I  am  sorry." 

Twenty  minutes  later  they  stood  up  this  incredu 
lous  editor  behind  the  illuminated  owls  that  blinked 
down  solemnly  upon  the  turmoil  of  Herald  Square 
and  shot  him  to  death  as  arranged. 


86 


CHAPTER  VII 

NEW     HAVEN    IS    PUNISHED    FOR    RIOTING    AND    IN 
SUBORDINATION 

MEANTIME  the  United  States  from  coast  to 
coast  was  seething  with  rage  and  humiliation.  This 
incredible,  impossible  thing  had  happened.  New 
York  City  was  held  by  the  enemy,  and  its  greatest 
citizens,  whose  names  were  supposed  to  shake  the 
world — Rockefeller,  Morgan,  Carnegie,  Vanderbilt, 
— were  helpless  prisoners.  General  Wood's  defeated 
army  had  been  driven  back  into  New  Jersey,  and  was 
waiting  there  for  von  Hindenburg's  next  move, 
praying  for  more  artillery,  more  ammunition,  more 
officers,  and  more  soldiers.  Let  this  nation  be 
threatened,  Secretary  of  State  Bryan  had  said,  and 
between  sunrise  and  sunset  a  million  men  would 
spring  to  arms.  Well,  this  was  the  time  for  them 
to  spring;  but  where  were  the  arms?  Nowhere! 
It  would  take  a  year  to  manufacture  what  was 
needed!  A  year  to  make  officers!  A  year  to  make 
soldiers!  And  the  enemy  was  here  with  mailed  fist 
thundering  at  the  gates! 

The  question  now  heard  in  all  the  clubs  and 
newspaper  offices,  and  in  diplomatic  circles  at  Wash- 

87 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

ington,  was,  which  way  would  von  Hindenburg 
strike  when  he  left  New  York?  Would  it  be  toward 
Boston  or  toward  Philadelphia?  And  why  did  he 
delay  his  blow,  now  that  the  metropolis,  after  a 
week's  painful  instruction,  was  resigning  itself  to 
a  Germanised  existence,  with  German  officials  col 
lecting  the  New  York  custom  house  revenues  and 
a  German  flag  flying  from  the  statue  of  Liberty? 
What  was  von  Hindenburg  waiting  for? 

On  the  3d  of  June  these  questions  were  dramati 
cally  answered  by  the  arrival  of  another  invading 
expedition,  which  brought  a  second  force  of  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  German  soldiers.  What 
cheering  there  was  from  Brooklyn  shores  as  these 
transports  and  convoys,  black  with  men,  steamed 
slowly  into  the  ravished  upper  bay,  their  bands 
crashing  out  "Deutschland  Uber  Alles"  and  their 
proud  eagles  floating  from  all  the  mast-heads! 

"This  makes  three  hundred  thousand  first-class 
fighting-men,"  scowled  Frederick  Palmer  as  we 
watched  the  pageant.  "What  is  Leonard  Wood  go 
ing  to  do  about  it?" 

"I  know  what  von  Hindenburg  is  going  to  do," 
said  I,  taking  the  role  of  prophet.  "Divide  his 
forces  and  start  two  drives — one  through  New  Eng 
land  to  Boston,  and  one  to  Washington." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  is  exactly  what  the  Ger 
man  general  did  do — and  he  lost  no  time  about  it. 
On  June  5,  von  Hindenburg,  with  an  army  of  125,- 
000,  began  his  march  toward  Trenton,  and  General 
88 


NEW  HAVEN  PUNISHED 


von  Kluck,  who  had  arrived  with  the  second  ex 
pedition,  started  for  Boston  with  an  equal  force. 
This  left  50,000  German  troops  in  Brooklyn  to  con 
trol  New  York  City  and  to  form  a  permanent  mili 
tary  base  on  Long  Island. 

General  Wood's  position  was  terribly  difficult. 
His  army,  encamped  half  way  between  Trenton  and 
Westfield,  had  been  increased  to  75,000  men;  but 
50,000  of  these  from  the  militia  were  sadly  lacking 
in  arms  and  organisation,  and  5,000  were  raw  re 
cruits  whose  first  army  work  had  been  done  within 
the  month.  He  had  20,000  regulars,  not  half  of 
whom  had  ever  seen  active  warfare.  And  against 
these  von  Hindenburg  was  advancing  with  125,000 
veterans  who  had  campaigned  together  in  France 
and  who  were  equipped  with  the  best  fighting  outfit 
in  the  world! 

It  would  have  been  madness  for  the  American 
commander  to  divide  his  outclassed  forces;  and  yet, 
if  he  did  not  divide  them,  von  Kluck's  army  would 
sweep  over  New  England  without  resistance.  In 
this  cruel  dilemma,  General  Wood  decided — with 
the  approval  of  the  President — to  make  a  stand 
against  von  Hindenburg  and  save  Philadelphia,  Bal 
timore  and  Washington,  if  he  could,  and  to  leave 
New  England  to  its  fate. 

At  this  critical  moment  I  was  instructed  by  my 
paper  to  accompany  a  raiding  expedition  sent  by 
General  von  Hindenburg  into  northern  New  Jersey, 
with  the  object  of  capturing  the  Picatinny  arsenal 

89 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

near  Dover;  and  this  occupied  me  for  several  days, 
during  which  General  von  Kluck's  army,  unresisted, 
had  marched  into  Connecticut  up  to  a  line  reaching 
from  beyond  Bridgeport  to  Danbury  to  Washing 
ton,  and  had  occupied  New  Kochelle,  Greenwich, 
Stamford,  South  Norwalk,  and  Bridgeport.  The 
Germans  advanced  about  fifteen  miles  a  day,  living 
off  the  country,  and  carefully  repairing  any  injuries 
to  the  railways,  so  that  men  and  supplies  from  their 
Long  Island  base  could  quickly  follow  them. 

On  June  10,  when  I  rejoined  General  von  Kluck's 
staff  (to  which  I  had  been  assigned),  I  found  that 
he  was  accompanied  by  the  Crown  Prince  and  the 
venerable  Count  Zeppelin,  both  of  whom  seemed 
more  interested  in  this  New  England  occupation 
than  in  the  activities  of  von  Hindenburg's  army. 
They  realised,  it  appears,  the  great  importance  of 
controlling  the  industrial  resources,  the  factories  and 
machine-shops  of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts. 
It  was  this  interest,  I  may  add,  that  led  to  the  first 
bloodshed  on  Connecticut  soil. 

Thus  far  not  a  shot  had  been  fired  by  the  in 
vaders,  who  had  been  received  everywhere  by  sullen 
but  submissive  crowds.  Only  a  small  part  of  the 
population  had  fled  to  the  north  and  east,  and 
the  activities  of  occupied  towns  and  cities  went  on 
very  much  as  usual  under  German  orders  and  Ger 
man  organisation.  The  horrible  fate  of  Brooklyn, 
the  wreck  of  the  Woolworth  and  Singer  build 
ings  were  known  everywhere;  and  if  New  York 
90 


THEN,  FACING  INEXORABLE  NECESSITY,  GENERAL 
WOOD  ORDERED  HIS  ENGINEERS  TO  BLOW  UP  THE 
BRIDGES  AND  FLOOD  THE  SUBWAYS  THAT  LED  TO 
MANHATTAN.  IT  WAS  AS  IF  THE  VAST  STEEL 
STRUCTURE  OF  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE  HAD  BEEN  A  THING 
OF  LACE.  IN  SHREDS  IT  FELL,  A  TORN.  TRAGICALLY 
WRECKED  PIECE  OF  MAGNIFICENCE. 


NEW  HAVEN  PUNISHED 


City,  the  great  metropolis,  had  been  forced  to  meek 
surrender  by  the  invaders,  what  hope  was  there 
for  Stamford  and  Bridgeport  and  South  Norwalk? 

But  in  Hartford  a  different  spirit  was  stirring. 
By  their  admirable  spy  service,  their  motorcycle 
service,  and  their  aeroplane  service,  the  German 
staff  were  informed  of  defiant  Hartford  crowds  gath 
ering  in  Bushnell  Park;  of  the  Putnam  Phalanx 
parading  in  continental  uniforms,  and  of  the  Gov 
ernor's  First  Company  Foot  Guards  marching  past 
the  monument  where  the  Charter  Oak  had  stood 
facing  the  South  Congregational  Church;  and  of 
patriotic  speeches  from  beside  the  statue  of  Na 
than  Hale  on  Main  Street. 

Also  in  New  Haven,  city  of  elms  and  of  Yale 
College,  the  Second  Company  of  Governor's  Foot 
Guards  and  the  valiant  New  Haven  Grays,  followed 
by  cheering  crowds,  had  marched  down  Chapel  and 
Meadow  streets  to  the  Second  Regiment  Armory, 
home  of  joyous  Junior  promenades;  and  here  ve 
hement  orators  had  recalled  how  their  ancestors, 
the  minute-men  of  1776,  had  repelled  the  British 
there  to  the  west  of  the  city,  where  Columbus  and 
Congress  and  Davenport  avenues  meet  at  the  De 
fenders'  Monument.  Why  should  not  this  bravery 
and  devotion  be  repeated  now  in  1921  against  the 
Germans?  Why  not? 

The  answer  was  spoken  clearly  in  a  widely  pub 
lished  appeal  to  the  people  of  New  England,  made 
by  the  Governor  of  Connecticut  and  supported  by 

91 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  ex-Governor  of  the  State,  and 
Arthur  T.  Hadley,  president  of  Yale,  in  which  the 
utter  folly  and  hopelessness  of  resistance  without 
army  or  militia  was  convincingly  set  forth.  Profes 
sor  Taft  declared  it  the  duty  of  every  loyal  citizen 
to  avoid  nameless  horrors  of  bloodshed  and  destruc 
tion  of  property  by  refraining  from  any  opposition 
to  an  overwhelmingly  superior  force. 

We  entered  New  Haven  on  June  12,  and  for  forty- 
eight  hours  there  was  no  disorder.  German  siege 
guns  were  placed  on  the  sheer  precipice  of  East  Rock, 
ranged  alongside  the  grey  shaft  of  the  Soldiers' 
Monument,  dominating  the  city ;  machine-guns  were 
set  up  at  the  four  corners  of  the  Green,  at  points 
surrounding  the  college  buildings,  and  at  other  stra 
tegic  points.  Students  were  not  allowed  to  leave  the 
college  grounds  without  military  permission. 

To  further  insure  the  good  behaviour  of  the  city, 
twenty  hostages  were  taken,  including  ex-President 
William  H.  Taft,  President  Arthur  T.  Hadley  of 
Yale  University,  Thomas  G.  Bennett,  ex-president 
of  the  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company,  Ma 
jor  Frank  J.  Rice,  ex-Governor  Simeon  E.  Baldwin, 
Edward  Malley,  General  E.  E.  Bradley,  Walter 
Camp,  and  three  members  of  the  graduating  class 
of  Yale  University,  including  the  captains  of  the 
baseball  and  football  teams.  These  were  held  as 
prisoners  within  the  grey  granite  walls  and  towers 
of  Edgerton,  the  residence  of  Frederick  F.  Brewster. 
As  staff  headquarters,  General  von  Kluck  and  the 
92 


NEW  HAVEN  PUNISHED 


Crown  Prince  occupied  the  palatial  white  marble 
home  of  Louis  Stoddard,  the  famous  polo-player. 

The  trouble  began  on  June  14,  when  the  invaders 
tried  to  set  going  the  manufacturing  activities  of 
New  Haven,  shut  down  during  the  past  week — espe 
cially  the  Winchester  Repeating  Arms  Company, 
employing  about  eleven  thousand  men,  and  the  Sar 
gent  Hardware  Manufacturing  Company,  employ 
ing  eight  thousand.  Large  numbers  of  these  em 
ployes  had  fled  from  New  Haven  in  spite  of  of 
fers  of  increased  wages,  so  that  the  Germans  had 
been  obliged  to  bring  on  men  from  New  York  to 
fill  their  places.  This  led  to  rioting  and  scenes 
of  violence,  with  a  certain  amount  of  looting,  in 
various  parts  of  the  city;  and  toward  evening  Ger 
man  troops  fired  upon  the  crowds,  killing  and 
wounding  about  two  hundred. 

In  punishment  of  this  insubordination,  General 
von  Kluck  ordered  the  guns  on  East  Rock  to  de 
stroy  the  Hotel  Taft  and  the  new  Post  Office  Build 
ing,  and  this  was  done  as  the  sun  was  setting.  He 
also  ordered  that  two  of  the  hostages,  chosen  by 
lot,  should  be  led  out  before  Vanderbilt  Hall,  at 
the  corner  of  College  and  Chapel  streets,  the  next 
day  at  noon,  and  shot. 

However,  this  grim  fate  was  averted  through  the 
intercession  of  an  American  woman,  a  white-haired 
lady  whose  husband,  a  Northern  general,  had  fought 
with  Count  Zeppelin  in  the  American  Civil  War, 

93 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

and  who  at  midnight  went  to  the  Whitney  mansion, 
where  the  Count  and  his  staff  were  quartered,  and 
begged  on  her  knees  for  mercy.  And,  for  the  sake 
of  old  times  and  old  friendship,  Count  Zeppelin  had 
this  penalty  remitted. 


94 


CHAPTER   VIII 

I  HAVE  A  FRIENDLY  TALK  WITH  THE  GERMAN  CROWN 
PRINCE  AND   SECURE  A  SENSATIONAL  INTERVIEW 

AFTER  the  pacification  of  New  Haven  and  the  re- 
establishment  of  its  industries,  our  division  of  the 
German  army,  numbering  about  five  thousand  men, 
swung  to  the  north,  through  Wallingford,  Meriden, 
and  Middletown,  and  marched  toward  the  capital 
of  the  State. 

I  shall  always  remember  the  morning  of  June  17, 
1921,  when,  at  the  request  of  the  Crown  Prince,  I 
rode  at  his  side  for  an  hour  before  we  entered  Hart 
ford.  I  was  amazed  at  the  extent  of  the  Prince's 
information  and  at  his  keen  desire  for  new  knowl 
edge.  He  asked  about  the  number  of  men  em 
ployed  in  the  Hartford  rubber  works,  in  Colt's  arm 
ory,  in  the  Pratt  &  Whitney  machine-shops,  and 
spoke  of  plans  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  these 
concerns.  He  knew  all  about  the  high  educational 
standards  of  the  Hartford  High  School.  He  had 
heard  of  the  Hotel  Heublein,  and  of  the  steel  tower 
built  by  its  proprietor  on  the  highest  point  of  Tal- 
cott  Mountain — had  already  arranged  to  have  this 
tower  used  for  wireless  communication  between 

95 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Hartford  and  the  German  fleet.  He  knew  exactly 
how  many  Germans,  Italians,  and  Swedes  there  were 
in  Hartford,  exactly  how  many  spans  there  were  in 
the  new  three-million-dollar  bridge  across  the  Con 
necticut.  He  looked  forward  with  pleasure  to  oc 
cupying  as  his  Hartford  headquarters  the  former 
home  on  Farmington  Avenue  of  Mark  Twain,  whose 
works  he  had  enjoyed  for  years. 

"You  know  Mark  Twain  was  a  great  friend  of 
my  father's,"  said  the  Crown  Prince.  "I  remember 
how  my  father  laughed,  one  evening  at  the  palace 
in  Berlin,  when  Mark  Twain  told  us  the  story  of 
The  Jumping  Frog  of  Calaveras  County.'  It's 
rather  a  pity  that  afterward  Mark — but  never  mind 
that." 

"Your  Imperial  Highness  has  a  wonderful  mem 
ory  for  details,"  I  remarked. 

"That  is  nothing,"  he  smiled.  "It's  our  business 
to  know  these  things;  that  is  why  we  are  here.  We 
must  know  more  about  New  England  than  the  New 
Englanders  themselves.  For  example,  ask  me  some 
thing." 

"Does  your  Imperial  Highness "  I  began.    But 

he  stopped  me  with  a  jolly  laugh.  I  can  still  see 
the  eager,  boyish  face  under  its  flashing  helmet,  and 
the  slim,  erect  figure  in  its  blue-and-silver  uniform. 

"Never  mind  the  Impe^l  Highness,"  he  said. 
"Just  ask  some  questions — any  question  about  Hart 
ford." 

"The  insurance  companies?"  I  suggested. 
96 


TALK  WITH  CROWN  PRINCE 

"Ah!  Of  course  I  know  that.  We  considered 
the  insurance  companies  in  fixing  the  indemnity. 
Hartford  is  the  richest  city  in  America  in  proportion 
to  her  population.  Let's  see.  Of  her  life  insurance 
companies,  the  ^Etna  has  assets  of  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty  million  dollars;  the  Travellers'  about 
a  hundred  million;  the  Connecticut  Mutual  about 
seventy  million;  the  Phcenix  Mutual  about  forty 
million — besides  half  a  dozen  small-fry  fire  insur 
ance  companies.  We're  letting  them  off  easily  with 
twenty  million  dollars  indemnity.  Don't  you  think 
so,  Mr.  Langston?" 

This  informal  talk  continued  for  some  time,  and 
I  found  the  Prince  possessed  of  equally  accurate 
and  detailed  information  regarding  other  New  Eng 
land  cities.  It  was  positively  uncanny.  He  in 
quired  about  the  Bancroft  Japanese  collection  in 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  and  wanted  to  know  the 
number  of  women  students  at  Wellesley  College. 
He  asked  if  I  had  seen  the  portrait  by  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  at  the  Athenaeum  in  Providence.  He  had 
full  details  about  the  United  States  Armory  at 
Springfield,  and  he  asked  many  questions  about  the 
Yale-Harvard  boat  races  at  New  London,  most  of 
which  I  was,  fortunately,  able  to  answer. 

Frederick  William  was  curious  to  know  what  had 
given  Newport  its  great  popularity  as  a  summer  re 
sort,  and  asked  me  to  compare  the  famous  cottages 
of  the  Vanderbilts,  the  Belmonts,  the  Astors,  along 
the  cliffs,  with  well-known  country  houses  in  Eng- 

97 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

land.  He  knew  that  Siasconset  on  Nantucket 
Island  was  pronounced  "Sconset,"  and  he  had  read 
reports  on  marine  biology  from  Woods  Hole.  He 
even  knew  the  number  of  watches  made  at  Waltham 
every  year,  and  the  number  of  shoes  made  at  Lynn. 

I  was  emboldened  by  the  Crown  Prince's  good 
humour  and  friendly  manner  to  ask  the  favour  of 
an  interview  for  publication  in  the  London  Times, 
and,  to  my  great  satisfaction,  this  was  granted  the 
next  day  when  we  were  settled  in  our  Hartford 
quarters,  with  the  result  that  I  gained  high  com 
mendation;  in  fact  my  interview  not  only  made  a 
sensation  in  England,  but  was  cabled  back  to  the 
United  States  and  reprinted  all  over  America.  Need 
less  to  say,  it  caused  bitter  resentment  in  both  coun 
tries  against  Frederick  William. 

"The  responsibility  for  the  present  war  between 
Germany  and  the  United  States  must  be  borne  by 
England,"  he  said  in  this  memorable  utterance.  "It 
was  the  spirit  of  hatred  against  Germany  spread 
through  the  world  by  England  and  especially  spread 
through  America  that  made  the  United  States  un 
willing  to  deal  with  the  Imperial  government  in  a 
fair  and  friendly  way,  touching  our  trade  and  colo 
nising  aspirations  in  South  America  and  Mexico. 

"We  Germans  regard  this  as  a  most  astonishing 
and  deplorable  thing,  that  the  American  people  have 
been  turned  against  us  by  British  misrepresenta 
tions.  Why  should  the  United  States  trust  Eng 
land?  What  has  England  ever  done  for  the  United 
98 


TALK  WITH  CROWN  PRINCE 

States?  Who  furnished  the  South  with  arms  and 
ammunition  and  with  blockade  runners  during  the 
Civil  War?  England!  Who  placed  outrageous  re 
strictions  upon  American  commerce  during  the  great 
European  war  and,  in  direct  violation  of  Interna 
tional  law,  prohibited  America  from  sending  food 
stuffs  and  cotton  to  Germany?  England! 

"What  harm  has  Germany  ever  done  to  the 
United  States?  Turn  over  the  pages  of  history. 
Remember  brave  General  Steuben,  a  veteran  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  drilling  with  Washington's  sol 
diers  at  Valley  Forge.  Remember  the  German  Gen 
eral  De  Kalb  who  fell  pierced  by  red-coat  balls  and 
bayonets  at  the  battle  of  Camden.  Remember  Gen 
eral  Herckheimer  with  his  band  of  German  farmers 
who  fought  and  died  for  American  independence  at 
the  battle  of  Oriskany. 

"Then  go  to  Greenwood  cemetery  and  look  at  the 
graves  of  German  soldiers,  rows  and  rows  of  them, 
who  gave  their  lives  loyally  for  the  Union  at  An- 
tietam,  at  Bull  Run  and  at  Gettysburg. 

"The  United  States  is  a  great  nation  with  vast 
resources,"  he  went  on,  "but  these  have  been  largely 
wasted,  owing  to  the  inefficiency  and  corruption  in 
evitable  in  all  democracies." 

"Your  Imperial  Highness  does  not  think  much  of 
American  efficiency?" 

The  prince  threw  back  his  head  with  a  snort  of 
contemptuous  amusement. 

"Ha!  What  can  one  expect  from  a  government 

99 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

like  yours?  A  government  of  incompetents,  poli 
ticians,  office  seekers." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  I  protested. 

"I  do  not  mean  to  offend  you,"  he  laughed,  "but 
hasn't  the  whole  world  known  for  years  that  Amer 
ica  was  utterly  defenceless?  Haven't  you  Ameri 
cans  known  it  since  1914?  Haven't  you  read  it  in 
all  your  newspapers?  Hasn't  it  been  shouted  at 
you  from  the  housetops  by  all  your  leading  men? 

"And  yet  your  senators,  your  congressmen,  your 
presidents  and  their  cabinet  officers  did  nothing 
about  it,  or  very  little.  Is  that  what  you  call  ef 
ficiency?  America  remained  lacking  in  all  tihat 
makes  for  military  preparedness,  did  she  not?  And 
she  tried  to  be  a  world  power  and  defend  the  Mon 
roe  doctrine!  She  told  Germany  in  1915  what  Ger 
many  might  do  with  her  submarines  and  what  she 
might  not  do.  Ha!  We  were  at  a  disadvantage 
then,  but  we  remembered!  You,  with  your  third- 
rate  navy  and  your  tenth-rate  army,  told  us  what 
we  might  do!  Well,  you  see  where  your  efficiency 
has  brought  you." 

I  sat  silent  until  this  storm  should  pass,  and  was 
just  making  bold  to  speak  when  the  prince  con 
tinued  : 

"Do  you  know  where  America  made  her  great 
mistake?  Oh,  what  a  chance  you  had  and  missed  it! 
Why  did  you  not  declare  war  on  Germany  after 
our  invasion  of  Belgium?  Or  after  the  sinking  of 
the  Lusitaniaf  Or  after  the  sinking  of  the  Arabic  f 
100 


TALK  WITH  CROWN  PRINCE 

You  had  your  justification  and,  with  your  money 
and  resources,  you  could  have  changed  the  course 
of  the  great  war.  That  is  what  we  feared  in  Ber 
lin.  We  were  powerless  to  hurt  you  then  and  we 
knew  you  would  have  time  to  get  ready.  Yes,  if 
America  had  gone  into  the  war  in  1915,  she  would 
be  the  greatest  power  on  earth  to-day  instead  of 
being  a  conquered  province." 

These  words  hurt. 

"America  is  a  long  way  from  being  a  conquered 
province,"  I  retorted. 

He  shook  his  head  good-naturedly,  whereupon  I 
resolved  to  control  my  temper.  It  would  be  folly 
to  offend  the  prince  and  thus  lose  my  chance  to  se 
cure  an  interview  of  international  importance,  which 
this  proved  to  be. 

"We  hold  New  York  already,"  he  continued. 
"Within  three  weeks  we  shall  hold  New  England. 
Within  three  months  we  shall  hold  your  entire  At 
lantic  seaboard." 

"We  may  win  back  our  lost  territory,"  said  I. 

"Never.  We  are  conquerors.  We  will  stay  here 
exactly  as  the  Manchu  conquerors  stayed  in  China. 
Exactly  as  the  Seljuk  conquerors  stayed  in  Asia 
Minor.  Your  military  strength  is  broken.  Your 
fleet  will  be  destroyed  when  it  reaches  the  Carib 
bean.  How  can  you  drive  us  out?" 

"Our  population  is  over  a  hundred  million." 

"China's  population  is  over  three  hundred  million 
and  a  handful  of  Japanese  rule  her.  Remember, 

101 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

America  is  not  like  Russia  with  her  heart  deep  in 
land.  The  military  heart  of  America  lies  within 
a  radius  of  180  miles  from  New  York  City  and  we 
hold  it,  or  soon  will.  In  that  small  strip,  reaching 
from  Boston  to  Delaware  Bay,  are  situated  nine- 
tenths  of  the  war  munition  factories  of  the  United 
States,  the  Springfield  Armory,  the  Watervliet  Ar 
senal,  the  Picatinny  Arsenal,  the  Frankfort  Ar 
senal,  the  Dupont  powder  works,  the  Bethlehem 
steel  works,  and  all  these  will  shortly  be  in  our 
hands.  How  can  you  take  them  from  us?  How 
can  you  get  along  without  them?" 

"We  can  build  other  munition  factories  in  the 
West." 

"That  will  take  a  year  or  more,  in  which  time 
we  shall  have  fortified  the  whole  Appalachian  Moun 
tain  system  from  Florida  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  so 
that  no  army  can  ever  break  through.  Do  you  see?" 

The  prince  paused  with  a  masterful  smile  and 
played  with  a  large  signet  ring  on  his  third  finger. 

"Surely  Your  Imperial  Highness  does  not  think 
that  Germany  can  conquer  the  whole  of  America?" 

"Of  course  not,  at  least  not  for  many  years.  We 
are  content  with  your  Atlantic  seaboard,  the  garden 
spot  of  the  earth  in  climate  and  resources.  We 
shall  hold  this  region  and  develop  it  along  broad 
lines  of  German  efficiency  and  German  kultur. 
What  wonderful  improvements  we  will  make!  How 
we  will  use  the  opportunities  you  have  wasted ! 

"Ha!  Let  me  give  you  one  instance  among  many 
102 


TALK  WITH  CROWN  PRINCE 

of  your  incredible  inefficiency.  Those  disappearing 
carriages  of  your  coast  defence  guns !  I  suppose  they 
were  the  pet  hobby  of  some  politician  with  an  in 
terest  in  their  manufacture,  but  Gott  in  Himmel! 
what  foolishness!  The  guns  themselves  are  good 
enough,  but  the  carriages  allow  them  an  elevation 
of  only  ten  per  cent,  against  a  thirty  per  cent,  ele 
vation  that  is  possible  for  guns  of  equal  calibre  on 
our  battleships,  which  means  that  our  twelve-inch 
guns  outrange  yours  by  a  couple  of  miles  simply  be 
cause  we  can  fire  them  at  a  higher  angle." 

"You  mean  that  one  of  your  super-dread 
noughts " 

"Exactly.  One  of  our  super-dreadnoughts  can  lie 
off  Rockaway  Beach  and  drop  shells  from  her 
twelve-inch  guns  into  Union  Square,  and  the  twelve- 
inch  guns  of  your  harbour  forts,  handicapped  by 
their  stupid  carriages,  could  never  touch  her." 

The  conversation  now  turned  to  other  subjects 
and  presently  the  prince  was  led  by  enthusiasm  or 
arrogance  to  make  a  series  of  statements  that  gave 
extraordinary  importance  to  my  interview,  since 
they  enraged  the  whole  Anglo-Saxon  world,  par 
ticularly  our  Western  and  Middle  Western  states. 
Fortunately  I  submitted  my  manuscript  to  Fred 
erick  William  before  cabling  the  interview  to  Lon 
don,  so  there  was  no  danger  of  his  repudiating  my 
words. 

With  brutal  frankness  this  future  ruler  of  a  na 
tion  maintained  that  against  German  arms  America 

103 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

must  now  go  down  to  defeat  just  as  England  went 
down  to  partial  defeat  in  1917  and  for  the  same  un 
changeable  reason  that  the  fittest  among  nations 
inevitably  survive. 

"Ask  your  readers  in  the  London  Times,  Mr. 
Langston,  why  it  was  that  in  the  fall  of  1915  Ger 
many  had  been  able  to  put  into  the  field  nine  mil 
lion  fully  equipped,  highly  efficient  soldiers,  whereas 
England,  with  nearly  the  same  population,  count 
ing  her  white  colonies,  had  been  able  to  send  out 
only  two  and  a  half  million,  a  third  of  these  being 
physically  defective?  Why  was  that? 

"Was  it  lack  of  guns  and  ammunition?  Lack  of 
officers  and  training?  Partly  so,  but  something  else 
was  lacking,  I  mean  patriotism  among  the  English 
masses  that  would  give  them  the  desire  to  fight 
for  England,  also  a  high  standard  of  physical  ex 
cellence  that  would  make  them  able  to  fight  effec 
tively  and  to  endure  the  hardships  of  the  trenches. 

"Now  why  should  there  be  more  patriotism  in 
Germany  than  in  England?  Why  should  the  masses 
of  Germany  excel  the  masses  of  England  in  physical 
vigour? 

"I  will  tell  you  why,  and  the  answer  applies  in 
some  degree  to  America;  it  is  because  the  German 
system  of  government  is  better  calculated  to  create 
patriotism  and  physical  vigour,  just  as  it  is  better 
calculated  to  create  an  efficient  war  machine.  In 
Germany  we  have  concentration  of  power,  a  benevo 
lent  paternalism  that  knows  the  needs  of  the  people 
104 


TALK  WITH  CROWN  PRINCE 

and  supplies  them  whether  the  people  wish  it  or 
not.  For  example,  in  Germany  we  have  to  a  great 
extent  abolished  poverty  and  such  degrading  slum 
conditions  as  prevail  in  English  and  American  cities. 
We  know  that  slums  lead  to  drink,  vice  and  physi 
cal  unfitness.  We  know  that  we  must  kill  the  slums 
or  see  the  slums  kill  efficiency  and  kill  patriotism. 

"In  Germany  we  hold  the  capitalist  class  within 
strict  bounds.  We  allow  no  such  heaping  up  of 
huge  fortunes  as  are  common  in  America  through 
the  exploitation  of  the  weak  by  the  strong.  We 
Germans  protect  the  weak  and  make  them  stronger, 
but  you  English  and  Americans  make  them  weaker 
by  oppressing  them.  You  make  slaves  of  children 
in  a  thousand  factories,  crushing  out  their  strength 
and  their  hope,  so  that  a  few  more  of  you  can  be 
come  millionaires.  Do  you  think  those  children, 
grown  to  manhood,  will  fight  for  you  very  loyally 
or  very  effectively  when  you  call  on  them  to  rally 
to  the  flag?  What  does  such  a  flag  mean  to  them?" 

"What  does  the  American  flag  mean  to  thousands 
of  American  steel  workers  forced  to  toil  at  the  fur 
naces  twelve  hours  a  day  for  two  dollars?  Twelve 
hours  a  day  and  often  seven  days  a  week  lest  they 
starve !  Why  should  these  men  fight  for  a  flag  that 
has  waved,  unashamed,  over  their  misery  and  over 
the  unearned  and  undeserved  fortunes  of  their  task 
masters,  Andrew  Carnegie  and  J.  P.  Morgan?  Why 
should  the  down-trodden  miners  in  Colorado  fight 

105 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

to  perpetuate  a  John  D.  Rockefeller  system  of  gov 
ernment?" 

"What  does  Your  Imperial  Highness  mean  by  a 
John  D.  Rockefeller  system  of  government?" 

"I  mean  the  English  and  American  system  of  in 
dividualism  gone  mad — every  man  for  himself  and 
the  devil  take  the  hindermost.  The  result  is  a 
trampling  on  the  many  by  the  few,  a  totally  un 
fair  division  of  the  products  of  toil  and  such  wicked 
extremes  of  poverty  and  riches  as  are  familiar  in 
London  and  New  York  but  are  unknown  in  Ger 
many. 

"In  Germany  the  masses  are  well  housed  and  well 
nourished.  In  all  our  cities  cheap  and  wholesome 
pleasures  abound,  music,  beer  gardens,  great  parks 
with  playgrounds  and  dancing  pavilions.  It  is  liter 
ally  true  that  work  at  fair  wages  with  reasonable 
hours  is  provided  for  every  German  citizen  who 
is  able  to  work.  And  those  unable  to  work  are 
taken  care  of, — pensions  for  the  aged,  homes  for 
the  disabled,  state  assistance  for  poor  mothers. 
There  are  no  paupers,  no  factory  slaves  in  Germany. 
The  central  government  sees  to  this,  not  only  as  a 
matter  of  humanity,  but  as  good  policy.  We  know 
that  every  German  citizen  will  fight  for  the  Ger 
man  flag  because  he  is  proud  of  it  and  has  personal 
reason  to  be  grateful  to  it,  since  it  represents  fair 
play,  large  opportunity,  a  satisfactory  life  for  him 
and  his  children." 

The  prince  maintained  that  here  were  new  ele- 
106 


TALK  WITH  CROWN  PRINCE 

merits  in  the  problem  of  Germany's  conquest  of 
America.  Not  only  were  the  invaders  more  valiant 
warriors  possessed  of  a  better  fighting  machine,  but 
they  came  with  a  moral  and  spiritual  superiority 
that  must  make  strong  appeal  to  Americans  them 
selves. 

"After  yielding  to  us  by  force  of  arms,"  he  went 
on,  "your  people  will  come  to  welcome  us  when 
they  see  how  much  better  off,  how  much  happier 
they  will  be  under  our  higher  civilisation.  Mr. 
Langston,  we  understand  your  nation  better  than  it 
understands  itself.  I  assure  you,  Americans  are  sick 
of  their  selfish  materialism,  they  are  ashamed  of 
the  degrading  money  worship  that  has  stifled  their 
national  spirit." 

Here  I  challenged  him  angrily. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  that  we  have  no  national 
spirit  in  America?" 

"Not  as  Germans  understand  it.  You  live  for  ma 
terial  things,  for  pleasures,  for  business.  You  are 
a  race  of  money  schemers,  money  grovellers,  lack 
ing  in  high  ideals  and  genuine  spiritual  life  with 
out  which  patriotism  is  an  empty  word.  Who  ever 
heard  of  an  American  working  for  his  country  unless 
he  was  paid  for  it? 

"Think  what  America  did  in  the  great  war !  Why 
was  your  president  so  wrought  up  in  1915  when 
he  assailed  Germany  with  fine  phrases?  Was  it 
because  we  had  violated  Belgium?  No!  When  that 
happened  he  had  nothing  to  say,  although  the 

107 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

United  States,  equally  with  England,  was  a  signa 
tory  of  the  Hague  Conference  that  guaranteed  Bel 
gium's  integrity.  Why  did  not  your  president  pro 
test  then?  Why  did  he  not  use  his  fine  phrases 
then?  Because  the  United  States  had  suffered  no 
material  injury  through  Belgium's  misfortune.  On 
the  contrary,  the  United  States  was  sure  to  gain 
much  of  the  trade  that  Belgium  lost.  And  that  was 
what  he  cared  about,  commercial  advantage.  You 
were  quick  enough  to  protect  your  trade  and  your 
money  interests.  You  were  ready  enough  to  do  any 
thing  for  gold,  ready  enough,  by  the  sale  of  war  mu 
nitions,  to  bring  death  and  misery  upon  half  of  Eu 
rope  so  long  as  you  got  gold  from  the  other  half. 
High  ideals!  National  spirit!  There  they  are!" 


108 


CHAPTER   IX 

BOSTON    OFFERS    DESPERATE   AND   BLOODY   RESISTANCE 
TO     THE    INVADERS 

OUR  wing  of  the  advancing  German  army  re 
mained  in  Hartford  for  four  days,  at  the  end  of 
which  all  signs  of  disorder  had  ceased;  in  fact, 
there  was  little  disorder  at  any  time.  The  lesson  of 
New  Haven's  resistance  had  been  taken  to  heart, 
and  there  was  the  discouraging  knowledge  that  a 
row  of  German  six-inch  siege-guns  were  trained  on 
the  city  from  the  heights  of  Elizabeth  Park,  their 
black  muzzles  commanding  the  grey  towers  and 
golden  dome  of  State  House,  the  J.  Pierpont  Morgan 
Memorial,  the  gleaming  white  new  City  Hall,  the 
belching  chimneys  of  the  Underwood  typewriter 
works,  and  the  brown  pile  of  Trinity  College. 

There  was  the  further  restraining  fact  that  lead 
ing  citizens  of  Hartford  were  held  as  hostages,  their 
lives  in  peril,  in  James  J.  Goodwin's  palatial  home, 
among  these  being  ex-Governor  Morgan  G.  Buckley, 
Mayor  Joseph  H.  Lawler,  Bishop  Chauncey  B. 
Brewster,  Dr.  Flavel  S.  Luther,  Bishop  John  J. 
Nilan,  Mrs.  Richard  M.  Bissell,  Mrs.  Thomas  N. 
Hepburn,  the  Rev.  Rockwell  Harmon  Potter, 

109 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Charles  Hopkins  Clark,  Holland  F.  Andrews,  the 
Rev.  Francis  Goodwin,  Thomas  J.  Spellacy,  and  Sol 
Sontheimer. 

So  the  invaders'  march  through  New  England  con 
tinued.  It  is  a  pitiful  story.  What  could  Connec 
ticut  and  Massachusetts  do?  With  all  their  wealth 
and  intelligence,  with  all  their  mechanical  ingenuity, 
with  all  their  pride  and  patriotism,  what  could  they 
do,  totally  unprepared,  more  helpless  than  Belgium, 
against  the  most  efficient  army  in  Europe? 

Three  times,  between  Hartford  and  Springfield, 
unorganised  bands  of  Americans,  armed  with  shot 
guns  and  rifles,  lay  in  ambush  for  the  advancing 
enemy  and  fired  upon  them.  These  men  declared 
that  they  would  die  before  they  would  stand  by 
tamely  and  see  the  homes  and  fields  of  New  England 
despoiled  by  the  invader.  Whereupon  the  Germans 
announced,  by  means  of  proclamations  showered 
upon  towns  and  villages  from  their  advance-guard  of 
aeroplanes,  that  for  every  German  soldier  thus  killed 
by  Americans  in  ambush  a  neighbouring  town  or  vil 
lage  would  be  burned  by  fire  bombs  dropped  from 
the  sky.  And  they  carried  out  this  threat  to  the 
letter,  so  that  for  every  act  of  resistance  by  the  fa 
thers  and  brothers  and  sons  of  New  England  there 
resulted  only  greater  suffering  and  distress  for  the 
women  and  the  children. 

The  average  man,  especially  one  with  a  wife  and 
children,  is  easily  cowed  when  he  has  no  hope;  and 
presently  all  resistance  ceased.  What  feeble  oppo- 
110 


BOSTON  RESISTS 


sition  there  was  in  the  first  week  dwindled  to  al 
most  nothing  in  the  second  week  and  to  less  than 
nothing  in  the  third  week.  Stamford  paid  two  mil 
lion  dollars  in  gold,  Bridgeport  five  million,  New 
Haven  five  million,  Hartford  twenty  million,  Fall 
River  three  million,  Springfield  five  million,  Worces 
ter  two  million,  Providence  ten  million,  Newport 
fifty  million.  The  smaller  cities  got  off  with  half 
a  million  each,  and  some  of  the  towns  paid  as  little 
as  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  But  every  com 
munity  paid  something,  and  the  total  amount  taken 
from  New  England,  including  a  hundred  million 
from  New  Hampshire,  a  hundred  million  from  Ver 
mont,  and  a  hundred  million  from  Maine,  was  eight 
hundred  million  dollars,  about  a  third  of  which  was 
in  gold. 

With  a  battle-front  fifty  or  seventy-five  miles 
long,  von  Kluck's  forces  strolled  across  this  fertile 
and  populous  region,  living  off  the  land,  leaving 
small  holding  forces  with  artillery  at  every  impor 
tant  point,  a  few  hundred  or  a  few  thousand,  while 
the  main  army  swept  relentlessly  and  resistlessly 
on.  It  was  a  delightful  four  weeks'  picnic  for 
von  Kluck  and  his  men;  and  at  the  end  of  four 
weeks  everything  in  New  England  had  fallen  before 
them  up  to  the  city  of  Boston,  which  had  been  left 
for  the  last.  And  the  total  German  losses  in  killed 
and  wounded  were  less  than  twenty! 

On  July  2,  General  von  Kluck's  army,  sweeping 
forward  unopposed,  reached  the  western  and  south- 
Ill 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

western  suburbs  of  Boston,  passing  through  New 
ton  and  Brookline,  and  making  a  detour  to  avoid 
ruining  the  beautiful  golf  links  where  Ouimet  won 
his  famous  victory  over  Ray  and  Vardon.  This 
sportsmanlike  consideration  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  several  of  the  German  officers  and  the  Crown 
Prince  himself  were  enthusiastic  golfers. 

Meantime  there  was  panic  in  the  city.  For  days 
huge  crowds  had  swarmed  through  Boston's  great 
railway  stations,  fleeing  to  Maine  and  Canada;  and 
across  the  Charles  River  bridge  there  had  passed 
an  endless  stream  of  automobiles  bearing  away  rich 
families  with  their  jewels  and  their  silver.  Among 
them  were  automobile  trucks  from  the  banks,  laden 
with  tons  of  gold.  No  boats  left  the  harbour  through 
fear  of  a  grim  German  battleship  that  lay  outside, 
plainly  visible  from  the  millionaire  homes  of  Na- 
hant  and  Manchester. 

Even  now  there  was  talk  of  resistance,  and  Ger 
man  Taubes  looked  down  upon  a  mass  meeting  of 
ten  thousand  frantic  citizens  gathered  in  Mechanics 
Hall  on  Huntington  Avenue;  but  prudent  counsels 
prevailed.  How  could  Boston  resist  without  soldiers 
or  ammunition  or  field  artillery?  Brooklyn  had  re 
sisted,  and  now  lay  in  ruins.  New  Haven  had  tried 
to  resist,  and  what  had  come  of  it? 

At  three  o'clock  on  this  day  of  sorrow,  with  ban 
ners  flying  and  bands  playing,  the  German  forces 
— horse,  foot,  and  artillery — entered  the  Massachu 
setts  capital  in  two  great  columns,  the  one  march- 
112 


BOSTON  RESISTS 


ing  down  Beacon  Street,  past  the  homes  of  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  and  Julia  Ward  Howe,  the  other 
advancing  along  Commonwealth  Avenue,  past  the 
white-columned  Harvard  Club,  past  the  statues  of 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  on 
under  the  shade  of  four  rows  of  elms  that  give  this 
noble  thoroughfare  a  resemblance  to  the  Avenue  de 
la  Grande  Armee  in  Paris. 

It  was  a  perfect  summer's  day.  The  sun  flashed 
from  the  golden  dome  of  the  State  House  on  the 
hill  over  Boston  Common,  and  from  the  great  white 
Custom  House  tower  that  rose  impressively  in  the 
distance  above  the  green  of  the  Public  Gardens. 
Boston  looked  on,  dumb  with  shame  and  stifled  rage, 
as  the  invaders  took  possession  of  the  city  and  ran 
up  their  flags,  red,  white,  and  black,  above  the  Old 
South  Meeting  House  on  Washington  Street,  where 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  baptised,  and  above  the 
sacred,  now  dishonoured,  shaft  of  the  Bunker  Hill 
Monument. 

Hostages  were  taken,  as  usual,  these  including 
Major  Henry  L.  Higginson,  President  A.  Lawrence 
Lowell  of  Harvard  University,  Major  James  M.  Cur- 
ley,  Edward  A.  Filene,  Margaret  Deland,  William 
A.  Paine,  Ellery  Sedgwick,  Mrs.  John  L.  Gardner, 
Charles  W.  Eliot,  Louis  D.  Brandeis,  Bishop  Wil 
liam  Lawrence,  Amy  Lowell,  T.  Jefferson  Coolidge, 
Thomas  W.  Lawson,  Guy  Murchie,  and  Cardinal 
O'Connell. 

A  proclamation  was  made  in  the  Transcript  (now 

113 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

forced  to  be  the  official  German  organ  and  the  only 
newspaper  that  was  allowed  to  appear  in  Boston) 
that  these  prominent  persons  would  be  held  per 
sonally  responsible  for  any  public  disorder  or  for 
any  failure  of  the  city  to  furnish  the  army  of  occu 
pation  with  all  necessary  food  and  supplies. 

On  the  night  of  occupation  there  were  scenes  of 
violence,  with  rioting  and  looting  in  various  parts 
of  Boston,  notably  in  Washington  Street  and  Tre- 
mont  Street,  where  shops  were  wrecked  by  mobs 
from  the  South  End,  several  thousand  of  the  un 
ruly  foreign  element,  crazed  with  drink  and  car 
rying  knives.  Against  this  drunken  rabble  the 
American  police,  sullen  and  disorganised,  could  do 
nothing  or  would  do  nothing;  and  the  situation 
was  becoming  desperate,  when  German  troops  ad 
vanced  along  Washington  Street,  firing  into  the 
crowd  and  driving  back  the  looters,  who  surged 
through  Winter  Street,  a  frantic,  terrified  mass,  and 
scattered  over  Boston  Common. 

Here,  in  front  of  the  Park  Street  Church,  an 
other  huge  mob  of  citizens  had  gathered — five  thou 
sand  wildly  patriotic  Irishmen.  Armed  with  clubs, 
rifles,  and  pistols,  and  madly  waving  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  they  cursed,  cheered,  and  yelled  out  insults 
to  the  Germans.  Suddenly  a  company  of  German 
soldiers  with  machine-guns  appeared  on  the  high 
ground  in  front  of  the  State  House.  Three  times 
a  Prussian  officer,  standing  near  the  St.  Gaudens 
114 


BOSTON  RESISTS 


Shaw  Memorial,  shouted  orders  to  the  crowd  to 
disperse;  but  the  Irishmen  only  jeered  at  him. 

"They  want  it;  let  them  have  it,"  said  the  Prus 
sian.  "Fire!" 

And  three  hundred  fell  before  the  blast  of  rifles 
and  machine-guns. 

At  which  the  mob  of  Irish  patriots  went  entirely 
mad,  and,  with  yells  of  hatred  and  defiance,  swarmed 
straight  up  the  hill  at  the  battery  that  was  slaugh 
tering  them,  shouting:  "To  hell  with  'em!"  "Come 
on,  boys!"  charging  so  fiercely  and  valiantly,  that 
the  Germans  were  swept  from  their  position,  and 
for  a  short  time  a  victorious  American  mob  held  the 
approaches  to  the  State  House. 

Alas,  it  was  for  only  a  short  time!  The  enemy 
quickly  brought  forward  reinforcements  in  over 
whelming  strength,  and  an  hour  later  there  were 
only  dead,  wounded  and  prisoners  to  tell  of  this 
loyal  but  hopeless  effort. 

In  other  parts  of  the  city  during  this  night  of 
terror  there  were  similar  scenes  of  bloodshed,  the 
Germans  inflicting  terrible  punishment  upon  the 
people,  innocent  and  guilty  suffering  alike  for  every 
act  of  disobedience  or  resistance.  There  were  a  few 
cases  of  sniping  from  houses;  and  for  these  a  score 
of  men,  seized  indiscriminately  in  the  crowds,  were 
hanged  from  windows  of  the  offending  or  suspected 
buildings.  As  a  further  lesson  to  the  city,  two  of 
the  hostages,  chosen  by  lot,  were  led  out  into  the 

115 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Public  Gardens  the  next  morning  at  sunrise  and  shot 
near  the  statue  of  Edward  Everett  Hale. 

Machine-guns  were  now  placed  on  the  high 
ground  before  the  Soldiers'  Monument  and  at  other 
strategic  points,  and  ten  thousand  soldiers  were 
encamped  on  Boston  Common,  the  main  part  of 
the  army  being  withdrawn,  after  this  overwhelming 
show  of  force,  to  Franklin  Park  on  the  outskirts, 
where  heavy  siege-guns  were  set  up. 

The  Transcript  appeared  that  day  with  a  black- 
lettered  proclamation,  signed  by  General  von  Kluck, 
to  the  effect  that  at  the  next  disorder  five  hostages 
would  be  shot,  and  six  beautiful  buildings — the  State 
House,  the  Custom  House,  the  Boston  Public  Li 
brary,  the  Opera  House,  the  Boston  Art  Museum, 
and  the  main  building  of  the  Massachusetts  School 
of  Technology — would  be  wrecked  by  shells.  This 
reduced  the  city  to  absolute  submission. 

Mrs.  John  L.  Gardner's  fine  Italian  palace  in  the 
Fenway,  with  its  wealth  of  art  treasures,  was  turned 
into  a  staff  headquarters  and  occupied  by  the  Crown 
Prince,  General  von  Kluck,  and  Count  Zeppelin. 
The  main  body  of  officers  established  themselves  in 
the  best  hotels  and  clubs,  the  Copley  Plaza,  the 
Touraine,  the  Parker  House,  the  Somerset,  the  St. 
Botolph,  the  City  Club,  the  Algonquin,  the  Har 
vard  Club,  paying  liberally  for  the  finest  suites  and 
the  best  food  by  the  simple  method  of  signing 
checks  to  be  redeemed  later  by  the  city  of  Boston. 

Non-commissioned  officers  made  themselves  com- 
116 


BOSTON  RESISTS 


fortable  in  smaller  hotels  and  in  private  houses  and 
boarding-houses  to  which  they  were  assigned.  A 
popular  eating-place  was  Thompson's  Spa,  where 
a  crush  of  brass-buttoned  German  soldiers  lunched 
every  day,  perched  on  high  stools  along  the  coun 
ters,  and  trying  to  ogle  the  pretty  waitresses,  who 
did  not  hide  their  aversion. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Tavern  Club  was 
burned  by  its  own  members  to  save  from  desecra 
tion  a  spot  hallowed  by  memories  of  Oliver  Wen 
dell  Holmes,  James  Russell  Lowell,  Charles  Eliot 
Norton,  and  George  William  Curtis. 

I  must  mention  another  instance  of  the  old-time 
indomitable  New  England  spirit  that  came  to  my 
knowledge  during  these  sad  days.  The  Germans 
levied  upon  the  city  of  Boston  an  indemnity  of  three 
hundred  million  dollars,  this  to  be  paid  at  the  rate 
of  three  million  dollars  a  day;  and  on  the  morning 
of  July  4,  two  of  von  Kluck's  staff  officers,  accom 
panied  by  a  military  escort,  marched  down  State 
Street  into  the  now  deserted  region  of  banks  and 
vaults  and  trust  companies,  to  arrange  for  the  regu 
lar  payment  of  this  sum.  Entering  the  silent  halls 
of  a  great  banking  house,  they  came  to  a  rear  office 
with  the  door  locked.  A  summons  to  open  being 
unanswered,  they  broke  down  this  door;  whereupon 
a  shot,  fired  from  within,  killed  the  first  soldier  who 
crossed  the  threshold.  A  German  volley  followed, 
and,  when  the  smoke  cleared  away,  there  sat  a  prom 
inent  Boston  financier,  his  father's  Civil  War  musket 

117 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

clutched  in  his  hands  and  the  look  of  a  hero  in  his 
dying  eyes.  All  alone,  this  uncompromising  figure 
of  a  man  had  waited  there  in  his  private  office  ready 
to  defy  the  whole  German  army  and  die  for  his 
rights  and  his  convictions. 


118 


CHAPTER  X 

LORD  KITCHENER  VISITS  AMERICA  AND  DISCUSSES  OUR 
MILITARY  PROBLEMS 

I  WAS  standing  with  Count  Zeppelin  in  the  door 
way  of  Mrs.  John  L.  Gardner's  Fenway  palace  when 
the  news  of  the  great  sea  horror  reached  Boston. 
The  German  submarine  U-68,  scouting  off  the  coast 
of  Maine,  had  sunk  the  American  liner  Manhattan, 
the  largest  passenger  vessel  in  the  world,  as  she 
raced  toward  Bar  Harbor  with  her  shipload  of  non- 
combatants.  Eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-three 
men,  women,  and  children  went  down  with  the  ship. 
No  warning  had  been  given.  No  chance  had  been 
offered  for  women  or  children  or  neutral  passen 
gers  to  escape.  The  disaster  duplicated  the  wreck 
ing  of  the  Lusitania  in  1915,  but  it  exceeded  it  in 
loss  of  human  life.  The  American  captain  and  all 
his  men  shared  the  fate  of  the  passengers  intrusted 
to  their  care. 

In  Boston  the  effect  on  the  German  officers  and 
men  was  unbelievable.  Tremont  and  Boylston  and 
Washington  streets,  echoing  with  cheers  of  the  ex 
ulting  conquerors,  resembled  the  night  of  a  Har 
vard-Yale  football  game  when  Brickley  used  to  play 
for  Cambridge  University.  The  citizens  of  the  big 

119 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

town,  their  senses  deadened  by  their  own  disaster, 
received  the  news,  and  the  ghastly  celebration  that 
followed  it,  without  -any  real  interest.  The  fact  that 
an  ex-Mayor  of  Boston  and  the  son  of  the  present 
Governor  were  among  those  that  perished  failed  to 
rouse  them.  Boston,  mentally  as  well  as  physically, 
was  in  the  grip  of  the  enemy. 

That  this  was  just  the  effect  the  Germans  planned 
to  produce  is  shown  by  General  von  Kluck's  own 
words.  In  an  interview  that  he  gave  me  for  the 
London  Times,  after  the  occupation  of  Boston  on 
July  2,  1921,  General  von  Kluck  said: 

"The  way  to  end  a  war  quickly  is  to  make  the 
burden  of  it  oppressive  upon  the  people.  It  was 
on  this  principle  that  General  Sherman  acted  in 
his  march  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea.  It  was  on  this 
principle  that  General  Grant  acted  in  his  march  from 
Washington  to  Richmond.  Grant  said  he  would 
fight  it  out  on  those  lines  if  it  took  all  summer — 
meaning  lines  of  relentless  oppression.  In  modern 
war  a  weak  enemy  like  Belgium  or  like  New  Eng 
land,  which  is  far  weaker  than  Belgium  was  in  1914, 
must  be  crushed  immediately.  Think  of  the  blood 
shed  that  would  have  stained  the  soil  of  Connecti 
cut  and  Massachusetts  if  we  had  not  spread  terror 
before  us.  As  it  is,  New  England  has  suffered  very 
little  from  the  German  occupation,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  everything  will  be  going  on  as  usual." 

The  veteran  warrior  paused,  and  added  with  a 
laugh:  "Better  than  usual." 
120 


KITCHENER'S  VIEWS 


As  a  matter  of  fact,  within  a  week  Boston  had 
resumed  its  ordinary  life  and  activities.  Business 
was  good,  factories  were  busy,  and  the  theatres  were 
crowded  nightly,  especially  Keith's,  where  the  latest 
military  photo-play  by  Thomas  Dixon  and  Charles 
T.  Dazey — with  Mary  Pickford  as  the  heroine  and 
Charley  Chaplin  as  the  comedy  relief — was  enjoyed 
immensely  by  German  officers. 

As  to  the  commerce  of  Boston  Harbor,  it  was 
speedily  re-established,  with  ships  of  all  nations  go 
ing  and  coming,  undisturbed  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
now  the  German  flag  on  German  warships  that  they 
saluted. 

I  received  instructions  from  my  paper  about  this 
time  to  leave  New  England  and  join  General  Wood's 
forces,  which  had  crossed  the  Delaware  into  Penn 
sylvania,  where  they  were  battling  desperately  with 
von  Hindenburg's  much  stronger  army.  On  the  day 
following  my  arrival  at  the  American  headquarters, 
I  learned  that  Lord  Kitchener  had  come  over  from 
England  to  follow  the  fighting  as  an  eye-witness; 
and  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  an  interview 
with  his  lordship,  who  remembered  me  in  connec 
tion  with  his  Egyptian  campaigns. 

"The  United  States  is  where  England  would  have 
been  in  1914  without  her  fleet,"  said  Lord  Kitchener. 

"Where  is  that?" 

"If  England  had  been  invaded  by  a  German  army 
in  1914,"  replied  the  great  organiser  gravely,  "she 
would  have  been  wiped  off  the  map.  It  was  Eng- 

121 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

land's  fleet  that  saved  her.  And,  even  so,  we  had 
a  hard  time  of  it.  Everything  was  lacking — officers, 
men,  uniforms,  ammunition,  guns,  horses,  saddles, 
horse  blankets,  everything  except  our  fleet." 

A  sudden  light  burned  in  Lord  Kitchener's  strange 
eyes,  and  he  added  earnestly:  "There  is  something 
more  than  that.  In  1914  Germany  was  wonderfully 
prepared  in  material  things,  but  her  greatest  advan 
tage  over  all  other  nations,  except  Japan,  lay  in 
her  dogged  devotion  to  her  own  ideals.  She  may 
have  been  wrong,  as  we  think,  but  she  believed  in 
herself.  There  was  nothing  like  it  in  England,  and 
there  is  nothing  like  it  in  America.  The  German 
masses,  to  the  last  man,  woman,  and  child,  were 
inspired  to  give  all  that  they  had,  their  lives  in 
cluded,  for  the  Empire.  In  England  there  was  more 
selfishness  and  self-indulgence.  We  had  labour 
troubles,  strike  troubles,  drink  troubles;  and  finally, 
as  you  know,  in  1916  we  were  forced  to  adopt  con 
scription.  It  will  be  the  same  story  here  in 
America." 

"Don't  you  think  that  America  will  ultimately 
win?" 

Lord  Kitchener  hesitated. 

"I  don't  know.  Germany  holds  New  York  and 
Boston  and  is  marching  on  Philadelphia.  Think 
what  that  means!  New  York  is  the  business  capital 
of  the  nation.  It  is  hard  to  conceive  of  the  United 
States  without  New  York." 
122 


KITCHENER'S  VIEWS 


"The  Americans  will  get  New  York  back,  won't 
they?" 

"How?  When?  It  is  true  you  have  a  population 
of  eighty  millions  west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains, 
and  somehow,  some  day,  their  American  spirit  and 
their  American  genius  ought  to  conquer;  but  it's 
going  to  be  a  job.  Patriotism  is  not  enough.  Money 
is  not  enough.  Potential  resources  are  not  enough. 
It  is  a  question  of  doing  the  essential  thing  before 
it  is  too  late.  We  found  that  out  in  England  in 
1916.  If  America  could  have  used  her  potential  re 
sources  when  the  Germans  landed  on  Long  Island, 
she  would  have  driven  her  enemies  into  the  sea 
within  a  week ;  but  the  thing  was  not  possible.  You 
might  as  well  expect  a  gold  mine  in  Alaska  to  stop 
a  Wall  Street  panic." 

I  found  that  Lord  Kitchener  had  very  definite 
ideas  touching  great  social  changes  that  must  come 
in  America  following  this  long  and  exhausting  war, 
assuming  that  we  finally  came  out  of  it  victorious. 

"America  will  be  a  different  land  after  this  war," 
he  said.  "You  will  have  to  reckon  as  never  before 
with  the  lowly  but  enlightened  millions  who  have 
done  the  actual  fighting.  The  United  States  of  the 
future  must  be  regarded  as  a  vast-co-operative  es 
tate  to  be  managed  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  dwell 
in  it,  not  for  the  benefit  of  a  privileged  few.  And 
America  may  well  follow  the  example  of  Germany, 
as  England  has  since  the  end  of  the  great  war  in 
1919,  in  using  the  full  power  of  state  to  lessen  her 

123 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

present  iniquitous  extremes  of  poverty  and  wealth, 
which  weaken  patriotism,  and  in  compelling  a  divi 
sion  of  the  products  of  toil  that  is  really  fair. 

"I  warn  you  that  America  will  escape  the  gravest 
labour  trouble  with  the  possibility  of  actual  revo 
lution  only  by  admitting,  as  England  has  admitted, 
that  from  now  on  labour  has  the  whip  hand  over 
capital  and  must  be  placated  by  immense  conces 
sions.  You  must  either  establish  state  control  in 
many  industries  that  are  now  privately  owned  and 
managed  and  establish  state  ownership  in  all  public 
utilities  or  you  must  expect  to  see  your  whole  sys 
tem  of  government  swing  definitely  toward  a  so 
cialistic  regime.  The  day  of  the  multi-millionaire 
is  over." 

I  found  another  distinguished  Englishman  at  Gen 
eral  Wood's  headquarters,  Lord  Northcliffe,  owner  of 
the  London  Times,  and  I  had  the  unusual  experi 
ence  of  interviewing  my  own  employer  for  his  own 
newspaper.  As  usual,  Lord  Northcliffe  took  sharp 
issue  with  Lord  Kitchener  on  several  points.  His 
hatred  of  the  Germans  was  so  intense  that  he  could 
see  no  good  in  them. 

"The  idea  that  Germany  will  be  able  to  carry  this 
invasion  of  America  to  a  successful  conclusion  is 
preposterous,"  he  declared.  "Prussian  supermen! 
What  are  they?  Look  at  their  square  heads  with 
no  backs  to  them  and  their  outstanding  ears!  Glut 
tons  of  food!  Guzzlers  of  drink!  A  race  of  bullies 
who  treat  their  women  like  squaws  and  drudges  and 
124 


KITCHENER'S  VIEWS 


then  cringe  to  every  policeman  and  strutting  of 
ficer  who  makes  them  goose-step  before  him.  Bis 
marck  called  them  a  nation  of  house-servants,  and 
knew  that  in  racial  aptitude  they  are  and  always 
will  be  hopelessly  inferior  to  Anglo-Saxons. 

"Conquer  America?  They  can  no  more  do  it 
than  they  could  conquer  England.  They  can  make 
you  suffer,  yes,  as  they  made  us  suffer;  they  can 
fill  you  with  rage  and  shame  to  find  yourselves  ut 
terly  unprepared  in  this  hour  of  peril,  eaten  up  with 
commercialism  and  pacifism  just  as  we  were.  But 
conquer  this  great  nation  with  its  infinite  resources 
and  its  splendid  racial  inheritance — never! 

"The  Germans  despise  America  just  as  they  de 
spised  England.  John  Bull  was  an  effete  old  pluto 
crat  whose  sons  and  daughters  were  given  up  to 
sport  and  amusement.  The  Kaiser,  in  his  famous 
Aix-la-Chapelle  order,  referred  scornfully  to  our 
'contemptible  little  army/  He  was  right,  it  was  a 
contemptible  little  army,  but  by  the  end  of  1917 
we  had  five  million  fully  equipped  men  in  the  field 
and  in  the  summer  of  1918  the  Kaiser  saw  his  broken 
armies  flung  back  to  the  Rhine  by  these  same  con 
temptible  Englishmen  and  their  brave  allies.  There 
will  be  the  same  marvellous  change  here  when  the 
tortured  American  giant  stirs  from  his  sleep  of  indif 
ference  and  selfishness.  Then  the  Prussian  super 
man  will  learn  another  lesson!" 


125 


CHAPTER  XI 

HEROIC  ACT  OF  BARBARA  WEBB  SAVES  AMERICAN  ARMY 
AT   THE    BATTLE   OF   TRENTON 

COMING  now  to  the  campaign  in  New  Jersey,  let 
me  recall  that  on  the  evening  of  June  18,  American 
scouting  aeroplanes,  under  Squadron  Commander 
Harry  Payne  Whitney,  reported  that  a  strong  force 
of  Germans,  cavalry,  infantry,  and  artillery,  had 
occupied  the  heights  above  Bordentown,  New  Jer 
sey,  and  were  actively  proceeding  to  build  pontoons 
across  the  Delaware.  It  seemed  clear  that  von  Hin- 
denburg  was  preparing  to  cross  the  river  at  the  very 
point  where  Washington  made  his  historic  crossing 
in  1776;  and  General  Wood  proceeded  to  attack  the 
enemy's  position  with  his  artillery,  being  assisted  by 
four  light-draught  gunboats  from  the  Philadelphia 
navy-yard,  which  lay  in  the  deepened  channel  at 
the  head  of  tide-water  and  dropped  shells  inside  the 
enemy's  lines.  The  Germans  replied  vigorously,  and 
a  smart  engagement  at  long  range  ensued,  lasting 
until  darkness  fell.  We  fully  expected  that  the 
next  day  would  see  a  fierce  battle  fought  here  for 
the  command  of  the  river.  No  one  dreamed  that 
this  was  a  trap  set  by  von  Hindenburg. 
126 


GIRL'S  HEROIC  ACT 


As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  crossing  movement  from 
above  Bordentown  was  a  feint  in  which  not  more 
than  8,000  Germans  were  engaged,  their  main  army 
being  gathered  twenty  miles  to  the  north,  near  Lam- 
bertville,  for  the  real  crossing.  And  only  the  prompt 
heroic  action  of  three  young  Americans,  two  boys 
and  a  girl,  saved  our  forces  from  immediate  disaster. 

The  heroine  of  this  adventure  was  Barbara  Webb, 
a  beautiful  girl  of  sixteen,  who,  with  her  brother 
Dominick  and  their  widowed  mother,  lived  in  a 
lonely  farm-house  on  Goat  Hill,  back  of  Lambert- 
ville.  They  had  a  boy  friend,  Marshall  Frissell,  in 
Brownsburg,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  and  Marshall  and  Dominick  had  learned  to 
wigwag  signals,  in  boy-scout  fashion,  back  and  forth 
across  the  Delaware. 

It  seems  that,  on  this  memorable  night,  the 
brother  and  sister  discovered  a  great  force  of  Ger 
mans  building  pontoons  about  a  mile  below  the 
wrecked  Lambertville  bridge.  Whereupon  Dominick 
Webb,  knowing  that  all  telegraph  and  telephone 
wires  were  cut,  leaped  upon  a  horse  and  set  out 
to  carry  the  news  to  General  Wood.  But  he  was 
shot  through  the  thigh  by  a  Prussian  sentry,  and, 
hours  later,  fainting  from  loss  of  blood,  he  returned 
to  the  farm-house  and  told  his  sister  that  he  had 
failed  in  his  effort. 

Then  Barbara,  as  day  was  breaking,  climbed  to 
the  crest  of  Goat  Hill,  and  began  to  signal  desper 
ately  toward  Brownsburg,  in  the  hope  that  Mar- 

127 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

shall  Frissell  might  see  and  understand.  For  an 
hour  she  waved,  but  all  in  vain.  Marshall  was 
asleep.  Still  she  waved;  and  finally,  by  a  miracle 
of  faith,  the  boy  was  roused  from  his  slumbers, 
drawn  to  his  window  as  the  sun  arose,  and,  look 
ing  out,  saw  Barbara's  familiar  flag  wigwagging 
frantically  on  the  heights  of  Lambertville  three  miles 
away.  Then  he  answered,  and  Barbara  cried  out 
in  her  joy. 

Just  then  a  German  rifle  spoke  from  the  river- 
bank  below,  a  thousand  yards  away,  where  the  en 
emy  were  watching,  and  a  bullet  pierced  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  as  the  flag  fluttered  over  that  slim  girl 
ish  figure  silhouetted  against  the  glory  of  the  eastern 
sky.  Then  another  bullet  came,  and  another.  The 
enemy  had  seen  Barbara's  manoeuvre.  She  was  be 
traying  an  important  military  secret,  and  she  must 
die. 

Wait!  With  a  hostile  army  below  her,  not  a  mile 
distant,  this  fearless  American  girl  went  on  wigwag 
ging  her  message — letter  by  letter,  slowly,  pains 
takingly,  for  she  was  imperfect  in  the  code.  As 
she  swept  the  flag  from  side  to  side,  signalling,  a 
ram  of  bullets  sang  past  her.  Some  cut  her  dress 
and  some  snipped  her  flowing  hair;  and  finally  one 
shattered  the  flag-staff  in  her  hands.  Whereupon, 
like  Barbara  Frietchie  of  old,  this  fine  young  Bar 
bara  caught  up  the  banner  she  loved,  and  went  on 
waving  the  news  that  might  save  her  country,  while 
a  hundred  German  soldiers  fired  at  her. 
128 


GIRL'S  HEROIC  ACT 


And  presently  a  wonderful  thing  happened.  The 
power  of  her  devotion  touched  the  hearts  of  these 
rough  men, — for  they  were  brave  themselves, — and, 
lowering  their  guns,  with  one  accord,  they  cheered 
this  little  grey-eyed,  dimpled  farmer's  girl  with  her 
hair  blowing  in  the  breeze,  until  the  Jersey  hills 
rang. 

And  now  the  lad  in  Brownsburg  rose  to  the  situa 
tion.  There  were  Germans  on  the  opposite  bank, 
a  great  host  of  them,  making  ready  to  cross  the  Dela 
ware.  General  Wood  must  know  this  at  once — he 
must  come  at  once.  They  say  that  freckle-faced 
Marshall  Frissell,  fifteen  years  old,  on  a  mad  mo 
torcycle,  covered  the  twenty  miles  to  Ft.  Hill,  Pa., 
where  General  Wood  had  his  headquarters,  in  fif 
teen  minutes,  and  that  by  seven  o'clock  troop  trains 
and  artillery  trains  were  moving  toward  the  north, 
winding  along  the  Delaware  like  enormous  snakes, 
as  Leonard  Wood,  answering  the  children's  call,  has 
tened  to  the  rescue. 

I  dwell  upon  these  minor  happenings  because  they 
came  to  my  knowledge,  and  because  the  main  events 
of  the  four  days'  battle  of  Trenton  are  familiar 
to  all.  In  spite  of  the  overwhelming  superiority  of 
the  Germans  in  men  and  artillery,  the  American 
army,  spread  along  a  twelve-mile  front  on  the  hills 
opposite  Lambertville,  made  good  use  of  their  de 
fensive  position,  and  for  three  days  held  back  the 
enemy  from  crossing  the  river.  In  fact,  it  was  only 
on  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  June  21,  that  von 

129 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Hindenburg's  engineers  succeeded  in  completing 
their  pontoon  line  to  the  Pennsylvania  shore.  Again 
and  again  the  floating  bridge  was  destroyed  by  a 
concentrated  shell  fire  from  American  batteries  on 
the  ridge  a  mile  and  a  half  back  from  the  river. 

American  aeroplanes  contributed  effectively  to 
this  work  of  resistance  by  dropping  explosive  bombs 
upon  the  pontoons;  but,  unfortunately,  German 
aeroplanes  outnumbered  the  defenders  at  least  four 
to  one,  and  soon  achieved  a  mastery  of  the  sky. 

A  brilliant  air  victory  was  gained  by  Jess  Willard, 
volunteer  pilot  of  a  swift  and  powerful  Burgess  ma 
chine,  over  three  Taubes,  the  latter  attacking  fiercely 
while  the  champion  prize-fighter  circled  higher  and 
higher,  manoeuvring  for  a  position  of  advantage.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  thrill  I  felt  when  Willard 
swooped  down  suddenly  from  a  height  of  eight  thou 
sand  feet,  and,  by  a  dangerous  turn,  brought  his 
machine  directly  over  the  nearest  German  flier,  at 
the  same  tune  dropping  a  fire  bomb  that  destroyed 
this  aeroplane  and  hurled  the  wreck  of  it  straight 
down  upon  the  two  Taubes  underneath,  striking  one 
and  capsizing  the  other  with  the  rush  of  air.  So 
the  great  Jess,  by  his  daring  strategy,  hurled  three 
of  the  enemy  down  to  destruction,  and  escaped 
safely  from  the  swarm  of  pursuers. 

On  the  fourth  day,  the  Germans — thanks  to  an 
advantage  of  three  to  one  in  artillery  pieces — suc 
ceeded  in  crossing  the  Delaware;  and  after  that  the 
issue  of  the  battle  was  never  in  doubt,  the  Ameri- 
130 


THE  PKOPLU  KNEW  THE  ANSWER  OF  VON  H1NDES- 
BURG.  THEY  HAD  READ  IT,  AS  HAD  ALL  THE  WORLD 
FOR  MILES  AROUND,  IN  THE  CATACLYSM  OF  THE 
PLUNGING  TOWERS.  NEW  YORK  MUST  SURRENDER 
OR  PERISH! 


GIRL'S  HEROIC  ACT 


can  forces  being  outnumbered  and  outclassed.  Two- 
thirds  of  General  Wood's  army  were  either  militia, 
insufficiently  equipped  and  half  trained,  or  raw  re 
cruits.  There  were  fifteen  thousand  of  the  latter 
who  had  volunteered  within  a  fortnight,  loyal  pa 
triots  ready  to  die  for  their  country,  but  without 
the  slightest  ability  to  render  efficient  military  serv 
ice.  These  volunteers  included  clerks,  business  men, 
professional  men  from  the  cities  of  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  thousands  of  workmen  from  great 
factories  like  the  Roebling  wire  works,  thousands  of 
villagers  and  farmers,  all  blazing  with  zeal,  but  none 
of  them  able  to  handle  a  high-power  Springfield  rifle 
or  operate  a  range-finder  or  make  the  adjustments 
for  the  time-fuse  of  a  shell. 

"They  shot  away  tons  of  ammunition  without  hit 
ting  anything,"  said  one  of  the  American  officers 
to  me.  "They  didn't  know  how  to  use  wind-gauges 
or  elevation-sights.  They  couldn't  even  pull  a 
trigger  properly." 

And  yet,  the  Germans  suffered  heavily  in  that  des 
perate  battle  of  the  fourth  day — partly  because 
they  attacked  again  and  again  in  close  formation 
and  were  mowed  down  by  American  machine-guns; 
partly  because  General  Wood  had  fortified  his  po 
sition  with  miles  of  wire  entanglements  through 
which  high-voltage  electric  currents  were  sent  from 
the  power-house  of  the  Newtown  and  Trenton  trol 
ley  systems  in  Newtown,  Pennsylvania;  and,  finally, 
because  the  American  commander,  in  an  address  to 

131 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

his  troops,  read  at  sunset  on  the  eve  of  battle,  had 
called  upon  them  in  inspiring  words  to  fight  for 
their  wives  and  children,  for  the  integrity  of  the 
nation,  for  the  glory  of  the  old  flag. 

And  they  fought  until  they  died.  When  the  bat 
tle  was  over,  the  Americans  had  lost  15,000  out 
of  70,000,  while  the  Germans  lost  12,000  out  of  125,- 
000.  Von  Hindenburg  himself  admitted  that  he  had 
never  seen  such  mad,  hopeless,  magnificent  courage. 

Again  General  Wood  faced  defeat  and  the  neces 
sity  of  falling  back  to  a  stronger  position.  For 
weeks  thousands  of  labourers  had  been  digging 
trenches  north  of  Philadelphia;  and  now  the  Ameri 
can  army,  beaten  but  defiant,  retreated  rapidly  and 
in  some  disorder  through  Jenkintown  and  Bristol 
to  this  new  line  of  intrenchments  that  spread  in  fan 
shape  from  the  Schuylkill  to  the  Delaware. 

It  was  of  the  most  desperate  importance  now 
that  word  be  sent  to  Harrisburg  and  to  the  mobilisa 
tion  camp  at  Gettysburg  and  to  other  recruiting 
points  in  the  West  and  South,  demanding  that  all 
possible  reinforcements  be  rushed  to  Philadelphia. 
As  communication  by  telegraph  and  telephone  was 
cut  off,  General  Wood  despatched  Colonel  Horace 
M.  Reading  and  Captain  William  E.  Pedrick,  offi 
cers  of  the  National  Guard,  in  a  swift  automobile, 
with  instructions  that  these  calls  for  help  be  flashed 
without  fail  from  the  wireless  station  in  the  lofty 
granite  shaft  of  the  Trenton  monument  that  com 
memorates  Washington's  victory  over  the  Hessians. 
132 


GIRL'S  HEROIC  ACT 


Unfortunately,  owing  to  bad  roads  and  wrecked 
bridges,  these  officers  suffered  great  delay,  and  only 
reached  the  Trenton  monument  as  the  German  host, 
with  rolling  drums,  was  marching  into  the  New  Jer 
sey  capital  along  Pennington  Avenue,  the  trium 
phant  way  that  Washington  had  followed  after  his 
great  victory. 

As  the  invaders  reached  the  little  park  where  the 
monument  stands,  they  saw  that  a  wireless  station 
was  in  operation  there,  and  demanded  its  surrender. 

Colonel  Reading,  wishing  to  gain  time  (for  every 
minute  counted),  opened  a  glass  door  and  stepped 
out  on  the  little  balcony  at  the  top  of  the  monu 
ment  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  ground. 
He  tried  to  speak,  but  a  German  officer  cut  him 
short.  He  must  surrender  instantly  or  they  would 
fire. 

"Fire  and  be  damned!"  shouted  the  Colonel,  and 
turned  to  the  white-faced  wireless  operator  inside. 
"Have  you  got  Harrisburg  yet?"  he  asked.  "For 
God's  sake,  hustle!" 

"Just  got  'em,"  answered  the  operator.  "I  need 
five  minutes  to  get  this  message  through." 

Five  minutes!  The  German  officer  below,  red 
with  anger,  was  calling  out  sharp  orders.  A  six- 
inch  gun  was  set  up  under  the  Carolina  poplars  not 
a  hundred  yards  from  the  monument. 

"We'll  show  them!"  roared  the  Prussian,  as  the 
gun  crew  drove  home  a  hundred-pound  shell. 
"Ready!" 

133 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"Is  that  message  gone?"  gasped  Reading. 

"Half  of  it.    I  need  two  minutes." 

Two  minutes!  The  officer  was  aiming  the  big  gun 
at  the  base  of  the  monument,  and  was  just  giving 
the  word  to  fire  when  the  heavy  bronze  door  swung 
open,  and  between  the  two  bronze  soldiers  appeared 
Elias  A.  Smith,  a  white-haired  veteran,  over  ninety 
years  old,  with  a  bronze  medal  on  his  breast  and 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  wound  around  his  waist. 

"I  fought  in  the  Civil  War!"  he  cried,  in  a  shrill 
voice.  "Here's  my  medal.  Here's  my  flag.  I've 
been  the  guardian  of  the  monument  for  sixteen 
years.  George  Washington's  up  there  on  top,  and 
if  you're  going  to  shoot  him,  you  can  shoot  me, 
too." 

The  Germans  were  so  surprised  by  this  venerable 
apparition  that  they  stood  like  stones. 

"Hi!  Yi!"  shouted  Colonel  Reading.  "It's 
gone!" 

"Hurrah!"  echoed  the  old  man.  "I  was  with 
Grant  at  Appomattox  when  Lee  surrendered.  Why 
don't  you  fire?" 

Then  they  did  fire,  and  the  proud  shaft  bearing 
the  statue  of  George  Washington  crumbled  to  earth  ; 
and  in  the  ruin  of  it  four  brave  Americans  perished. 


134 


CHAPTER  XII 

REAR-ADMIRAL  THOMAS  Q.  ALLYN  WEIGHS  CHANCES 
OF  THE  AMERICAN  FLEET  IN  IMPENDING  NAVAL 
BATTLE 

WHILE  the  main  German  army  pressed  on  in  pur 
suit  of  General  Wood's  fleeing  forces,  a  body  of  ten 
thousand  of  the  invaders  was  left  behind  at  various 
points  in  northern  New  Jersey  and  eastern  Pennsyl 
vania  to  pacify  this  region  and  organise  its  indus 
tries  and  activities.  The  Picatinny  arsenal  was  now 
running  night  and  day,  under  the  direction  of  a 
force  of  chemists  brought  from  Germany,  turning 
out  shells  and  cartridges  for  the  invading  army. 
The  great  Roebling  plant  in  Trenton  was  comman 
deered  for  the  production  of  field  telephone  and 
telegraph  wire,  and  the  Mercer  automobile  factory 
for  military  motor-trucks  and  ambulances. 

I  was  astonished  at  the  rapidity  with  which  Ger 
man  engineers  repaired  bridges  and  railroads  that 
had  been  wrecked  by  the  retreating  Americans,  and 
was  assured  that  the  invaders  had  brought  with 
them  from  their  own  country  a  full  supply  of  steel 
spans,  beams,  girders,  trusses,  and  other  parts  nec 
essary  for  such  repairs,  down  to  the  individual  bolts 

135 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

and  pins  for  each  separate  construction.  It  was  an 
amazing  illustration  of  their  preparedness,  and  of 
their  detailed  knowledge  of  conditions  in  America. 

Trains  were  soon  running  regularly  between  Jer 
sey  City  and  Trenton,  their  operations  being  put 
in  the  hands  of  two  Pennsylvania  Railroad  officials, 
J.  B.  Fisher,  superintendent  of  the  New  York  divi 
sion,  and  Victor  Wierman,  superintendent  of  the 
Trenton  division — these  two,  with  their  operating 
staffs,  being  held  personally  responsible,  under  pain 
of  death,  for  the  safe  and  prompt  arrival  of  troops 
and  supplies. 

For  the  pacification  of  Trenton  the  Germans  left 
a  force  of  three  thousand  men  with  artillery  en 
camped  in  the  State  Fair  grounds  near  the  capital, 
and  it  was  announced  in  the  Trenton  Times  (made 
the  official  German  organ)  that  at  the  first  disorder 
shells  would  be  fired  at  the  white  marble  City  Hall, 
at  the  State  House,  with  its  precious  collection  of 
flags  and  banners  from  the  Civil  and  Revolutionary 
wars,  at  the  Broad  Street  National  Bank,  and  at 
the  Public  Service  building,  which  stands  where 
the  Hessians  surrendered  in  1776. 

Among  hostages  taken  here  by  the  Germans  were 
R.  V.  Kuser,  head  of  the  Trenton  Brewing  Com 
pany;  General  Wilbur  F.  Sadler,  president  of  the 
Broad  Street  Trust  Company;  Colonel  E.  C.  Stahl, 
a  Civil  War  veteran  and  the  father  of  Rose  Stahl; 
also  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  James  F.  McFaul 
and  the  Episcopal  Bishop  Paul  Matthews. 
136 


STRENGTH  OF  OUR  NAVY 


Many  Trenton  women,  including  Mrs.  Karl  G. 
Roebling,  Mrs.  Oliphant,  wife  of  the  General,  Miss 
Mabel  Hayter,  and  Mrs.  Charles  Howell  Cook,  were 
devoted  in  nursing  the  wounded  who  were  brought 
by  thousands  to  the  historic  churches  of  Trenton, 
used  as  hospitals,  and  to  the  vast  Second  Regiment 
armory. 

Several  American  nurses  came  into  possession  of 
diaries  found  on  wounded  German  soldiers,  and 
some  of  these  recorded  excesses  similar  to  those  com 
mitted  in  Belgium  in  1914. 

"On  the  main  street  of  the  town  of  Dover,  New 
Jersey,"  wrote  Private  Karmenz,  178th  Saxon  Regi 
ment,  "I  saw  about  fifty  citizens  shot  for  having 
fired  from  ambush  on  our  soldiers." 

"Glorious  victories  in  Pennsylvania,"  rejoiced 
Lieutenant  A.  Aberlein  of  the  Eighth  Bavarian 
Army  Corps.  "Our  men  of  softer  spirit  give  the 
wounded  a  bullet  of  deliverance;  the  others  hack  and 
stab  as  they  may." 

The  tribute  levied  upon  Trenton  was  four  million 
dollars  in  gold,  recently  realised  by  the  State  Treas 
urer  from  an  issue  of  State  bonds  to  supply  State 
deficiencies. 

German  officers  made  themselves  comfortable  in 
the  Trenton  Club,  the  Lotus  Club,  the  Carteret  Club, 
and  the  Elk  Home;  also  in  the  Windsor  House, 
the  Trenton  House,  and  the  Sterling  House.  Printed 
schedules  of  rates  for  food  and  rooms  were  posted 
up,  and  the  proprietors  were  notified  that  they 

137 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

would  be  punished  if  they  refused  to  give  service 
at  these  rates,  just  as  the  German  soldiers  would  be 
punished  if  they  tried  to  evade  payment. 

Officers  of  the  German  headquarters  staff  occu 
pied  Karl  G.  Roebling's  show  place,  with  its  fine 
stables,  lawns,  and  greenhouses. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Trenton,  I  re 
ceived  a  cable  to  the  effect  that  the  American  fleet 
had  nearly  completed  its  voyage  around  South 
America  and  had  been  sighted  off  Cape  St.  Roque, 
the  northeastern  corner  of  Brazil,  headed  toward  the 
Caribbean  Sea.  It  was  known  that  the  German 
fleet  had  been  cruising  in  these  waters  for  weeks, 
awaiting  the  enemy's  arrival,  and  cutting  off  their 
colliers  and  supply  ships  from  all  ports  in  Europe 
and  America;  and  it  was  now  evident  that  a  great 
naval  battle  must  occur  in  the  near  future. 

I  took  steamer  at  once  for  Kingston,  Jamaica; 
and  on  the  evening  of  my  arrival,  July  10,  I  called 
on  my  friend,  Rear- Admiral  Thomas  Q.  Allyn  of  the 
United  States  Navy  (now  retired),  whom  I  had  not 
seen  since  our  dramatic  meeting  at  Colon  when  the 
Panama  Canal  was  wrecked  by  the  Germans.  I 
had  many  questions  to  ask  the  Admiral,  and  we 
talked  until  after  midnight. 

"I  am  horribly  anxious,  Mr.  Langston,"  said  the 
veteran  of  Manila.  "We  are  facing  a  great  crisis. 
Our  ships  are  going  into  battle,  and  within  a  few 
hours  we  shall  know  whether  the  civilian  policy  at 
Washington  that  has  controlled  our  naval  develop- 
138 


STRENGTH  OF  OUR  NAVY 


ment — the  policy  that  forced  me  to  resign  rather 
than  assume  the  responsibility  for  consequences 
— we  shall  know  whether  that  policy  was  wise  or 
foolish." 

"I  did  not  suspect  that  you  resigned  for  that  rea 
son,"  said  I. 

His  face  darkened. 

"Yes.  There  had  been  tension  for  months.  The 
whole  service  was  demoralised.  Discipline  and  effi 
ciency  were  destroyed.  As  far  back  as  1914,  I  testi 
fied  before  the  House  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs 
that  it  would  take  five  years  to  make  our  fleet 
ready  to  fight  the  fleet  of  any  first-class  naval  power, 
and  to  get  our  personnel  into  proper  condition.  I 
said  that  we  were  not  able  to  defend  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  in  the  Atlantic,  or  to  force  the  Open  Door 
of  trade  in  the  Pacific.  I  might  as  well  have  spoken 
to  the  winds,  and  when  the  order  came  last  April, 
against  the  best  naval  advice,  to  take  our  fleet  into 
the  Pacific,  I  handed  in  my  resignation." 

"You  must  be  glad  you  did,  in  view  of  what  hap 
pened." 

"Yes;  but — I  am  thinking  of  my  country.  I  am 
thinking  of  those  unfortunate  ships  that  have  come 
around  South  America  without  sufficient  coal  or 
provisions." 

I  asked  Admiral  Allyn  how  the  American  fleet 
compared  with  the  Germans  in  number  of  ships.  He 
shook  his  head. 

"We  are  far  behind  them.  Nine  years  ago,  in 

139 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

1912,  we  stood  next  to  Great  Britain  in  naval 
strength;  but  since  then  we  have  steadily  fallen 
back.  Germany  has  a  dozen  super-dread 
noughts,  ships  of  over  30,000  tons,  while  we  have 
six.  Germany  has  twenty  dreadnoughts  of  from 
20,000  to  30,000  tons  to  our  ten.  She  has  four 
battle-cruisers,  while  we  have  none.  She  has  a  hun 
dred  destroyers  to  our  twenty-five." 

"I  understand  that  these  figures  refer  to  the  fleets 
that  are  actually  going  into  battle?" 

"Yes.  Germany's  entire  naval  strength  is  a  third 
more  than  that.  I  have  accurate  information.  You 
see,  our  fleet  is  outclassed." 

"But  it  will  fight?" 

"Of  course  our  fleet  will  fight;  but — we  can't  get 
to  our  base  at  Guantanamo — the  German  fleet  blocks 
the  way.  For  years  we  have  begged  that  Guanta 
namo  be  fortified;  but  our  request  was  always  re 
fused." 

"Why?" 

"Ah,  why?  Why,  in  1915,  were  we  refused  eigh 
teen  thousand  men  on  the  active  list  that  were 
absolutely  necessary  to  man  our  ships?  Why  have 
we  practically  no  naval  reserves?  Why,  in  1916, 
were  the  President's  reasonable  demands  for  naval 
preparedness  refused  by  Congress?  I  will  tell  you 
why!  Because  politics  has  been  considered  more 
than  efficiency  in  the  handling  of  our  navy.  Vital 
needs  have  been  neglected,  so  that  a  show  of  econ 
omy  could  be  made  to  the  people  and  get  their  votes. 
140 


STRENGTH  OF  OUR  NAVY 


Economy!  Good  heavens!  you  see  where  it  has 
brought  us!" 

On  the  morning  of  July  11,  as  I  was  breakfasting 
in  the  hotel  with  Admiral  Allyn,  there  was  great 
excitement  outside,  and,  going  to  the  piazza,,  we 
saw  a  large  airship  approaching  rapidly  from  the 
northwest  at  the  height  of  about  a  mile.  It  was 
one  of  the  non-rigid  Parseval  type,  evidently  a 
German. 

"A  scout  from  the  enemy's  fleet,"  said  Admiral 
Allyn. 

"That  means  they  are  not  far  away?" 

"Yes.  They  came  through  the  Windward  Pas 
sage  three  weeks  ago,  and  have  been  lying  off  Guan- 
tanamo  ever  since.  We  ought  to  have  wireless  re 
ports  of  them  soon." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  before  noon  the  wireless  sta 
tion  at  Santiago  de  Cuba  flashed  the  news  that 
coasting  steamers  had  reported  German  battleships 
steaming  slowly  to  the  south,  and  a  few  hours  later 
other  wireless  reports  informed  us  that  the  Ameri 
can  fleet  had  been  sighted  off  the  southern  coast 
of  Hayti. 

The  Admiral  nodded  grimly. 

"The  hour  has  struck.  The  German  and  Ameri 
can  fleets  will  meet  in  these  waters  somewhere  be 
tween  Guantanamo  and  Jamaica." 


141 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  GREAT  NAVAL  BATTLE  OF  THE  CARIBBEAN   SEA 

IN  a  flash  my  newspaper  sense  made  me  realise 
that  this  was  an  extraordinary  opportunity.  The 
greatest  naval  battle  in  history  was  about  to  be 
fought  so  near  us  that  we  might  almost  hear  the 
big  guns  booming.  It  would  be  worth  thousands 
of  pounds  to  the  London  Times  to  have  an  eye 
witness  account  of  this  battle,  and  I  resolved  to  turn 
the  island  of  Jamaica  upside  down  in  search  of 
an  aeroplane  that  would  take  me  out  to  sea. 

The  fates  were  certainly  kind  to  me — or  rather 
the  British  Consul  was  efficient;  and  before  night 
I  had  secured  the  use  of  a  powerful  Burgess-Dunne 
aeroboat,  the  property  of  Vincent  Astor;  also  Mr. 
Astor's  skilful  services  as  pilot,  which  he  generously 
offered  through  his  interest  in  naval  affairs  and 
because  of  his  desire  to  give  the  world  this  first 
account  of  a  sea  battle  observed  from  the  sky. 

We  started  the  next  morning,  an  hour  after  sun 
rise,  flying  to  the  north  straight  across  the  island 
of  Jamaica,  and  then  out  over  the  open  sea.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  beauty  of  the  scene  that  we 
looked  down  upon — the  tropical  flowers  and  ver- 
142 


BATTLE  OF  CARIBBEAN 


dure  of  the  rugged  island,  and  the  calmly  smiling 
purple  waters  surrounding  it.  We  flew  swiftly 
through  the  delicious  air  at  a  height  of  half  a  mile, 
and  in  two  hours  we  had  covered  a  third  of  the  dis 
tance  to  Guantanamo  and  were  out  of  sight  of  land. 

At  ten  o'clock  we  turned  to  the  right  and  steered 
for  a  column  of  smoke  that  had  appeared  on  the 
far  horizon;  and  at  half-past  ten  we  were  circling 
over  the  American  fleet  as  it  steamed  ahead  slowly 
with  fires  under  all  boilers  and  everything  ready  for 
full  speed  at  an  instant's  notice. 

As  we  approached  the  huge  super-dreadnought 
Pennsylvania,  flag-ship  of  the  American  squadron, 
Mr.  Astor  unfurled  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  we 
could  hear  the  crews  cheering  as  they  waved  back 
their  greetings. 

I  should  explain  that  we  were  able  to  converse 
easily,  above  the  roar  of  our  propellers,  by  talking 
into  telephone  head-pieces. 

"Look!"  cried  Astor.  "Our  ships  are  beginning  a 
manoeuvre." 

The  Pennsylvania,  with  red-and-white  flags  on 
her  foremast,  was  signalling  to  the  fleet:  "Prepare 
to  engage  the  enemy."  We  watched  eagerly  as  the 
great  ships,  stretching  away  for  miles,  turned 
slightly  to  starboard  and,  with  quickened  engines, 
advanced  in  one  long  line  of  battle. 

At  half-past  eleven  another  smoke  column  ap 
peared  on  our  port  bow,  and  within  half  an  hour 
we  could  make  out  enemy  vessels  on  either  hand. 

143 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"They're  coming  on  in  two  divisions,  miles  apart," 
said  Astor,  studying  the  two  smoke  columns  with  his 
glasses.  "We're  headed  right  between  them." 

We  flew  ahead  rapidly,  and  presently  could  clearly 
discern  that  the  vessels  to  starboard  were  large  bat 
tleships  and  those  to  port  were  destroyers. 

At  one  o'clock  the  two  fleets  were  about  nineteen 
thousand  yards  apart  and  were  jockeying  for  posi 
tions.  Suddenly  four  vessels  detached  themselves 
from  the  German  battleship  line  and  steamed  at 
high  speed  across  the  head  of  the  American  column. 

"What's  that?  What  are  they  doing?"  asked 
Astor. 

"Trying  to  cap  our  line  and  torpedo  it.  Admiral 
Togo  did  the  same  thing  against  the  Russians  in  the 
Yellow  Sea.  Admiral  Fletcher  is  swinging  his  line 
to  port  to  block  that  move." 

"How  do  they  know  which  way  to  manoeuvre?  I 
don't  see  any  signals." 

"It's  done  by  radio  from  ship  to  ship.  Look! 
They  are  forcing  us  to  head  more  to  port.  That 
gives  them  the  advantage  of  sunlight.  Ah!" 

I  pointed  to  the  German  line,  where  several  puffs 
of  smoke  showed  that  they  had  begun  firing.  Ten 
seconds  later  great  geyser  splashes  rose  from  the 
sea  five  hundred  yards  beyond  the  Pennsylvania, 
and  then  we  heard  the  dull  booming  of  the  discharge. 
The  battle  had  begun.  I  glanced  at  my  watch.  It 
was  half -past  one. 

Boom!  Boom!  Boom  /spoke  the  big  German  guns 
144 


BATTLE  OF  CARIBBEAN 


eight  miles  away;  but  we  always  saw  the  splashes 
before  we  heard  the  sounds.  Sometimes  we  could 
see  the  twelve-inch  shells  curving  through  the  air 
— big,  black,  clumsy  fellows. 

Awe-struck,  from  our  aeroplane,  Astor  and  I 
looked  down  upon  the  American  dreadnoughts  as 
they  answered  the  enemy  in  kind,  a  whole  line  thun 
dering  forth  salvos  that  made  the  big  guns  flame 
out  like  monster  torches,  dull  red  in  rolling  white 
clouds  of  smokeless  powder.  We  could  see  the  tense 
faces  of  those  brave  men  in  the  fire-control 
tops. 

"See  that!"  I  cried,  as  a  shell  struck  so  close  to 
the  Arizona,  second  in  line,  that  the  "spotting"  offi 
cers  on  the  fire-control  platform  high  on  her  fore 
mast  were  drenched  with  salt  water. 

I  can  give  here  only  the  main  features  of  this 
great  battle  of  the  Caribbean,  which  lasted  five 
hours  and  a  quarter  and  covered  a  water  area  about 
thirty  miles  long  and  twenty  miles  wide.  My  plan 
of  it,  drawn  with  red  and  black  lines  to  represent 
movements  of  rival  fleets,  is  a  tangle  of  loops  and 
curves. 

"Do  you  think  there  is  any  chance  that  it  will  be 
a  drawn  game?"  said  Astor,  pale  with  excitement. 

"No,"  I  answered.  "A  battle  like  this  is  never 
a  drawn  game.  It's  always  a  fight  to  a  finish." 

Our  aeroboat  behaved  splendidly,  in  spite  of  a 
freshening  trade-wind  breeze,  and  we  circled  lower 
for  a  better  view  of  the  battle  which  now  grew 

145 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

in  fierceness  as  the  fleets  came  to  closer  quarters. 
At  one  time  we  dropped  to  within  two  thousand  feet 
of  the  sea  before  Astor  remembered  that  our  Ameri 
can  flag  made  a  tempting  target  for  the  German 
guns  and  steered  to  a  higher  level. 

"They  don't  seem  to  fire  at  us,  do  they?  I  sup 
pose  they  think  we  aren't  worth  bothering  with," 
he  laughed. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  a  single  shot  was  fired 
at  us  during  the  entire  engagement. 

I  must  say  a  word  here  regarding  an  adroit  Ger 
man  manoeuvre  early  in  the  battle  by  which  the 
invaders  turned  an  apparent  inferiority  in  subma 
rines  into  a  distinct  advantage.  The  American  fleet 
had  thirty  submarines  (these  had  been  towed  pain 
fully  around  South  America)  while  the  Germans  had 
only  five,  but  these  five  were  large  and  speedy,  built 
to  travel  with  the  fleet  under  their  own  power  and 
not  fall  behind.  The  thirty  American  submarines, 
on  the  other  hand,  could  not  make  over  twelve  knots 
an  hour.  Consequently,  when  the  German  line  sud 
denly  quickened  its  pace  to  twenty-five  knots,  Ad 
miral  Fletcher  had  to  choose  between  abandoning 
his  underwater  craft  and  allowing  his  fleet  to  be 
capped  by  the  enemy;  that  is,  exposed  to  a  raking 
fire  with  great  danger  from  torpedoes.  He  decided 
to  abandon  his  submarines  (all  but  one  that  had 
the  necessary  speed)  and  thus  he  lost  whatever 
assistance  these  vessels  might  have  rendered,  and 
146 


BATTLE  OF  CARIBBEAN 


was  obliged  to  fight  with  a  single  submarine  against 
five,  instead  of  with  thirty  against  five. 

When  I  explained  this  manoeuvre  to  Mr.  Astor  he 
asked  the  natural  question  why  Admiral  Fletcher 
had  not  foreseen  this  unfortunate  issue  and  left  his 
burdensome  submarines  at  Panama.  I  pointed  out 
that  these  thirty  vessels  had  cost  half  a  million  dol 
lars  apiece  and  it  was  the  admiral's  duty  to  take 
care  of  them.  It  naturally  was  not  his  fault  if  Con 
gress  had  failed  to  give  him  submarines  that  were 
large  enough  and  swift  enough  for  efficient  fighting 
with  the  fleet. 

Meantime  the  battle  was  booming  on  in  two 
widely  separated  areas,  the  battleships  in  one,  the 
destroyers  in  the  other. 

Mr.  Astor  had  held  the  wheel  for  five  hours  and, 
at  my  suggestion,  he  retired  to  the  comfortable 
little  cabin  and  lay  down  for  fifteen  minutes,  leav 
ing  the  aeroboat  to  soar  in  great  slow  circles  under 
its  admirable  automatic  controls  over  the  main  bat 
tle  area.  When  he  returned  he  brought  hot  coffee 
in  a  silver  thermos  bottle  and  some  sandwiches,  and 
we  ate  these  with  keen  relish,  in  spite  of  the  battle 
beneath  us. 

The  dreadnoughts  had  now  closed  in  to  eight 
thousand  yards  and  the  battle  was  at  the  height 
of  its  fury,  making  a  continuous  roar,  and  form 
ing  five  miles  of  flaming  tongues  in  a  double  line, 
darting  out  their  messages  of  hate  and  death. 

As  the  afternoon  wore  on  the  wind  strengthened 

147 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

from  the  northeast  and  I  realised  the  disadvantage 
of  the  American  ships  indicated  by  Admiral  Allyn, 
namely,  that,  being  light  of  coal,  they  rode  high  in 
the  sea  and  rolled  heavily.  Unfortunately,  the  Ger 
mans  had  thirty  battleships  to  seventeen  and  thia 
disparity  was  presently  increased  when  the  flotilla 
of  German  destroyers,  about  eighty,  after  vanquish 
ing  their  opponents,  swarmed  against  the  hard- 
pressed  American  line,  attacking  from  the  port  quar 
ter  under  the  lead  of  the  four  battle-cruisers  so  that 
the  valiant  seventeen  were  practically  surrounded. 

In  this  storm  of  shells  every  ship  was  struck  again 
and  again  and  the  huge  Pennsylvania,  at  the  head 
of  the  column,  seemed  to  be  the  target  of  the  whole 
German  column.  About  three  o'clock,  as  the  flag 
ship  rolled  far  over  to  port  and  exposed  her  star 
board  side,  a  twelve-inch  shell  caught  her  below 
the  armoured  belt  and  smashed  through  into  the  en 
gine-room,  where  it  exploded  with  terrific  violence. 
The  flagship  immediately  fell  behind,  helpless,  and 
Admiral  Fletcher,  badly  wounded  and  realising  that 
his  vessel  was  doomed,  signalled  to  Admiral  Mayo, 
on  the  Arizona,  second  in  line,  to  assume  command 
of  the  fleet. 

"Look!"  cried  Astor,  suddenly,  pointing  to  two 
black  spots  in  the  sea  about  a  thousand  yards  away. 

"Periscopes,"  said  I. 

At  the  same  moment  we  saw  two  white  trails 
swiftly  moving  along  the  surface  and  converging  on 
the  Pennsylvania  with  deadly  precision. 
148 


BATTLE  OF  CARIBBEAN 


"Torpedoes!  They're  going  to  finish  her!"  mur 
mured  Astor,  his  hands  clenched  tight,  his  eyes  sick 
with  pain. 

There  was  a  smothered  explosion,  then  a  thick 
column  of  water  shot  high  into  the  air,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  there  came  another  explosion  as  the  sec 
ond  torpedo  found  its  target. 

And  now  the  great  super-dreadnought  Pennsyl 
vania  was  sinking  into  the  Caribbean  with  Admiral 
Fletcher  aboard  and  seventeen  hundred  men.  She 
listed  more  and  more,  and,  suddenly,  sinking  lower 
at  the  bows,  she  submerged  her  great  shoulders  in 
the  ocean  and  rolled  her  vast  bulk  slowly  to  star 
board  until  her  dark  keel  line  rose  above  the  sur 
face  with  a  green  Niagara  pouring  over  it. 

For  a  long  time  the  Pennsylvania  lay  awash  while 
the  battle  thundered  about  her  and  scores  of  blue 
jackets  clambered  over  her  rails  from  her  perpen 
dicular  decks  and  clung  to  her  slippery  sides.  We 
could  hear  them  singing  "Nancy  Lee"  as  the  waves 
broke  over  them. 

"Are  we  afraid  to  die?"  shouted  one  of  the  men, 
and  I  thrilled  at  the  answering  chorus  of  voices, 
"No!" 

Just  before  the  final  plunge  we  turned  away.  It 
was  too  horrible,  and  Astor  swung  the  aeroplane 
in  a  great  curve  so  that  we  might  not  see  the  last 
agonies  of  those  brave  men.  When  we  looked  back 
the  flagship  had  disappeared. 

As  we  circled  again  over  the  spot  where  the  Penn- 

149 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

sylvania  went  down  we  were  able  to  make  out  a 
few  men  clinging  to  fragments  of  wreckage  and  call 
ing  for  help. 

"Do  you  see  them?  Do  you  hear  them?"  cried 
Astor,  his  face  like  chalk.  "We  must  save  one  of 
them.  She'll  carry  three  if  we  throw  over  some 
of  our  oil." 

This  explains  why  we  did  not  see  the  end  of  the 
battle  of  the  Caribbean  and  the  complete  destruc 
tion  of  the  American  fleet.  We  threw  overboard 
a  hundred  pounds  of  oil  and  started  back  to  King 
ston  with  a  crippled  engine  and  a  half-drowned 
lieutenant  of  the  Pennsylvania  stretched  on  the 
cabin  floor.  How  we  saved  him  is  a  miracle.  One 
of  our  wings  buckled  when  we  struck  the  water  and 
I  got  a  nasty  clip  from  the  propeller  as  I  dragged 
the  man  aboard;  but,  somehow,  we  did  the  thing 
and  got  home  hours  later  with  one  of  the  few  sur 
vivors  of  Admiral  Fletcher's  ill-fated  expedition. 

I  have  no  idea  how  I  wrote  my  story  that  night; 
my  head  was  throbbing  with  pain  and  I  was  so  weak 
I  could  scarcely  hold  my  pencil,  but  somehow,  I 
cabled  two  columns  to  the  London  Times,  and  it 
went  around  the  world  as  the  first  description  of  a 
naval  battle  seen  from  an  aeroplane.  I  did  not 
know  until  afterwards  how  much  the  Germans  suf 
fered.  They  really  lost  about  half  their  battleships, 
but  the  Americans  lost  everything. 


150 


CHAPTER  XIV 

PHILADELPHIA'S  FIRST  CITY  TROOPS  DIE  IN  DEFENCE 
OF  THE  LIBERTY  BELL 

I  COME  now  to  the  point  in  my  narrative  where 
I  ceased  to  be  merely  a  reporter  of  stirring  events, 
and  began  to  play  a  small  part  that  Fate  had 
reserved  for  me  in  this  great  international  drama. 
Thank  God,  I  was  able  to  be  of  service  to  stricken 
America,  my  own  country  that  I  have  loved  so 
much,  although,  as  correspondent  of  the  London 
Times,  it  has  been  my  lot  to  spend  years  in  foreign 
lands. 

Obeying  instructions  from  my  paper,  I  hastened 
back  to  the  United  States,  where  important  events 
were  pending.  Von  Hindenburg,  after  his  Tren 
ton  victory,  had  strangely  delayed  his  advance 
against  Philadelphia — we  were  to  learn  the  reason 
for  this  shortly — but,  as  we  passed  through  Savan 
nah,  we  had  news  that  the  invading  army  was  mov 
ing  southward  against  General  Wood's  reconstructed 
line  of  defence  that  spread  from  Bristol  on  the  Dela 
ware  to  Jenkintown  to  a  point  three  miles  below 
Norristown  on  the  Schuylkill. 

The  next  morning  we  reached  Richmond  and  here, 

151 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

I  should  explain,  I  said  good-bye  to  the  rescued  lieu 
tenant,  an  attractive  young  fellow,  Randolph  Ryer- 
son,  whose  home  was  in  Richmond,  and  whose  sis 
ter,  Miss  Mary  Ryerson,  a  strikingly  beautiful  girl, 
had  met  us  at  Charleston  the  night  before  in  re 
sponse  to  a  telegram  that  her  brother  was  coming 
and  was  ill.  She  nursed  him  through  the  night 
in  an  uncomfortable  stateroom  and  came  to  me  in 
the  morning  greatly  disturbed  about  his  condition. 
The  young  man  had  a  high  fever,  she  said,  and  had 
raved  for  hours  calling  out  a  name,  a  rather  pecu 
liar  name — Widding — Widding — Lemuel  A.  Wid- 
ding — over  and  over  again  in  his  delirium. 

I  tried  to  reassure  her  and  said  laughingly  that, 
as  long  as  it  was  not  a  woman's  name  he  was  rav 
ing  about,  there  was  no  ground  for  anxiety.  She 
gave  me  her  address  in  Richmond  and  thanked  me 
very  sweetly  for  what  I  had  done.  I  must  admit 
that  for  days  I  was  haunted  by  that  girl's  face  and 
by  the  glorious  beauty  of  her  eyes. 

When  we  reached  Washington  we  found  that  city 
in  a  panic  over  news  of  another  American  defeat. 
Philadelphia  had  fallen  and  all  communications 
were  cut  off.  Furthermore,  a  third  force  of  Ger 
mans  had  landed  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  which  meant 
that  the  national  capital  was  threatened  by  two 
German  armies.  We  now  understood  von  Hinden- 
burg's  deliberation. 

In  this  emergency,  Marshall  Reid,  brother-in-law 
of  Lieutenant  Dustin,  the  crack  aviator  of  the  navy, 
152 


PHILADELPHIA'S  FATE 


who  had  been  aboard  the  Pennsylvania,  volunteered 
to  carry  messages  from  the  President  to  Philadelphia 
and  to  bring  back  news.  Reid  himself  was  one  of 
the  best  amateur  flying  men  in  the  country  and 
he  did  me  the  honour  to  choose  me  as  his  com 
panion. 

We  started  late  in  the  afternoon  of  August  17  in 
Mr.  Reid's  swift  Burgess  machine  and  made  the 
distance  in  two  hours.  I  shall  never  forget  our 
feelings  as  we  circled  over  the  City  of  Brotherly 
Love  and  looked  down  upon  wrecks  of  railroad 
bridges  that  lay  across  the  Schuylkill.  Shots  were 
fired  at  us  from  the  aerodrome  of  the  League  Island 
Navy  Yard;  so  we  flew  on,  searching  for  a  safer 
landing  place. 

We  tried  to  make  the  roof  landing  on  the 
Bellevue-Stratford  Hotel,  but  the  wind  was  too  high 
and  we  finally  chanced  it  among  the  maples  of  Rit- 
tenhouse  Square,  after  narrowly  missing  the  sharp 
steeple  of  St.  Mark's  Church.  Here,  with  a  few 
bruises,  we  came  to  earth  just  in  front  of  the  Rit- 
tenhouse  Club  and  were  assisted  by  Dr.  J.  Wil 
liam  White,  who  rushed  out  and  did  what  he  could 
to  help  us. 

Five  hours  later,  Reid  started  back  to  Washing 
ton  with  details  of  reverses  sent  by  military  and 
city  authorities  that  decided  the  administration  to 
move  the  seat  of  government  to  Chicago  without 
delay.  He  also  carried  from  me  (I  remained  in  Phil 
adelphia)  a  hastily  written  despatch  to  be  transmit- 

153 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

ted  from  Washington  via  Kingston  to  the  London 
Times,  in  which  I  summed  up  the  situation  on  the 
basis  of  facts  given  me  by  my  friend,  Richard  J. 
Beamish,  owner  of  the  Philadelphia  Press,  my  con 
clusion  being  that  the  American  cause  was  lost. 
And  I  included  other  valuable  information  gleaned 
from  reporter  friends  of  mine  on  the  North  Amer 
ican  and  the  Bulletin.  I  even  ventured  a  prophecy 
that  the  United  States  would  sue  for  peace  within 
ten  days. 

"What  were  General  Wood's  losses  in  the  battle 
of  Philadelphia?"  I  asked  Beamish. 

"Terribly  heavy — nearly  half  of  his  army  in 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners.  What  could  we  do? 
Von  Hindenburg  outnumbered  us  from  two  to  one 
and  we  were  short  of  ammunition,  artillery,  horses, 
aeroplanes,  everything." 

"Who  blew  up  those  railroad  bridges  and  cut  the 
wires?" 

"German  spies — there  are  a  lot  of  them  here. 
They  sank  a  barge  loaded  with  bricks  in  the  Schuyl- 
kill  just  above  its  joining  with  the  Delaware  and 
blocked  the  channel  so  that  ten  battleships  in  the 
naval  basin  at  League  Island  couldn't  get  out." 

"What  became  of  the  battleships?" 

"Commandant  Price  opened  their  valves  and  sank 
them  in  the  basin." 

"And  the  American  army,  where  is  it  now?"  I 
asked. 

"They've  retreated  south  of  the  Brandywine — 
154 


PHILADELPHIA'S  FATE 


what's  left  of  them.  Our  new  line  is  entrenching 
from  Chester  to  Upland  to  Westchester  with  our 
right  flank  on  the  Delaware;  but  what's  the  use?" 

So  crushing  was  the  supremacy  of  the  invaders 
that  there  was  no  further  thought  of  resistance 
in  Philadelphia.  The  German  army  was  encamped 
in  Fairmount  Park  and  it  was  known  that,  at  the 
first  sign  of  revolt,  German  siege-guns  on  the  his 
toric  heights  of  Wissahickon  and  Chestnut  Hill 
would  destroy  the  City  Hall  with  its  great  tower 
bearing  the  statue  of  William  Penn  and  the  mas 
sive  grey  pile  of  Drexel  and  Company's  banking 
house  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Chestnut  streets. 
Von  Hindenburg  had  announced  this,  also  that  he 
did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  take  hostages. 

There  was  one  act  of  resistance,  however,  when 
the  enemy  entered  Philadelphia  that  must  live 
among  deeds  of  desperate  heroism. 

As  the  German  hosts  marched  down  Chestnut 
Street  they  came  to  Independence  Hall  and  here, 
blocking  the  way  on  their  sorrel  horses  with  two 
white  mounted  trumpeters,  was  the  First  City 
Troop,  sixty-five  men  under  Captain  J.  Franklin 
McFadden,  in  their  black  coats  and  white  doeskin 
riding-breeches,  in  the  black  helmets  with  raccoon 
skin  plumes,  in  their  odd-shaped  riding  boots  high 
over  the  knee,  all  as  in  Revolutionary  days — here 
they  were  drawn  up  before  the  statue  of  George 
Washington  and  the  home  of  the  Liberty  Bell,  re 
solved  to  die  here,  fighting  as  well  as  they  could  for 

155 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

these  things  that  were  sacred.  And  they  did  die, 
most  of  them,  or  fell  wounded  before  a  single  one  of 
the  enemy  set  foot  inside  of  Independence  Hall. 

Here  is  the  list  of  heroes  who  offered  their  lives 
for  the  cause  of  liberty: 

Captain  J.  Franklin  McFadden,  First  Lieutenant 
George  C.  Thayer,  Second  Lieutenant  John  Conyng- 
ham  Stevens,  First  Sergeant  Thomas  Cadwalader, 
Second  Sergeant  (Quartermaster)  Benjamin  West 
Frazier,  Third  Sergeant  George  Joyce  Sewell,  Wil 
liam  B.  Churchman,  Richard  M.  Philler,  F.  Wilson 
Prichett,  Clarence  H.  Clark,  Joseph  W.  Lewis,  Ed 
ward  D.  Page,  Richard  Tilghman,  Edward  D.  To- 
land,  Jr.,  McCall  Keating,  Robert  P.  Frazier,  Alex 
ander  Cadwalader,  Morris  W.  Stroud,  George 
Brooke,  3d,  Charles  Poultney  Davis,  Saunders  L. 
Meade,  Cooper  Howell,  C.  W.  Henry,  Edmund 
Thayer,  Harry  C.  Yarrow,  Jr.,  Alexander  C.  Yar- 
nall,  Louis  Rodman  Page,  Jr.,  George  Gordon 
Meade,  Pierson  Pierce,  Andrew  Porter,  Richard  H. 
R.  Toland,  John  B.  Thayer,  West  Frazier,  John 
Frazer,  P.  P.  Chrystie,  Albert  L.  Smith,  William  W. 
Bodine,  Henry  D.  Beylard,  Effingham  Buckley  Mor 
ris,  Austin  G.  Maury,  John  P.  Hollingsworth,  Ru- 
lon  Miller,  Harold  M.  Willcox,  Charles  Wharton, 
Howard  York,  Robert  Gilpin  Irvin,  J.  Keating  Will- 
cox,  William  Watkins,  Jr.,  Harry  Ingersoll,  Russell 
Thayer,  Fitz  Eugene  Dixon,  Percy  C.  Madeira,  Jr., 
Marmaduke  Tilden,  Jr.,  H.  Harrison  Smith,  C. 
Howard  Clark,  Jr.,  Richard  McCall  Elliot,  Jr., 
156 


PHILADELPHIA'S  FATE 


George  Harrison  Frazier,  Jr.,  Oliver  Eton  Crom 
well,  Richard  Harte,  D.  Reeves  Henry,  Henry  H. 
Houston,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll. 

It  grieved  me  when  I  visited  the  quaint  little 
house  on  Arch  Street  with  its  gabled  window  and 
wooden  blinds,  where  Betsey  Ross  made  the  first  flag 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  to  find  a  German 
banner  in  place  of  the  accustomed  thirteen  white 
stars  on  their  square  of  blue.  And  again,  when 
I  stood  beside  Benjamin  Franklin's  grave  in  Christ 
Church  Cemetery,  I  was  shocked  to  see  a  German 
flag  marking  this  honoured  resting-place.  "Benja 
min  and  Deborah,  1790,"  was  the  deeply  graven 
words  and,  beside  them  under  a  kindly  elm,  the  bat 
tered  headstone  of  their  little  four-year-old  son, 
"Francis  F. — A  delight  to  all  who  knew  him." 
Then  a  German  flag! 

I  began  to  wonder  why  we  had  not  learned  a 
lesson  from  England's  lamentable  showing  in  1915. 
What  good  did  all  our  wealth  do  us  now?  It  would 
be  taken  from  us — had  not  the  Germans  already 
levied  an  indemnity  of  four  hundred  millions  upon 
Philadelphia?  And  seized  the  Baldwin  locomotive 
works,  the  greatest  in  the  world,  employing  16,000 
men?  And  the  Cramp  shipbuilding  yards?  And 
the  terminus  at  Point  Breeze  down  the  river  of  the 
great  Standard  Oil  Company's  pipe  line  with  enor 
mous  oil  supplies? 

Philadelphians  realised  all  this  when  it  was  too 
late.  They  knew  that  ten  thousand  American  sol- 

157 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

diers,  killed  in  battle,  were  lying  in  fresh-made 
graves.  They  knew  that  the  Philadelphia  Hospital 
and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Hospital  and 
the  commercial  museum  buildings  nearby  that  had 
been  changed  into  hospitals  could  scarcely  provide 
beds  and  nurses  for  wounded  American  soldiers. 
And  yet,  "What  can  we  do?"  said  Mayor  George  H. 
Earle,  Jr.,  to  me.  "New  York  City  resisted,  and 
you  know  what  happened.  Boston  rioted,  and  she 
had  her  lesson.  No!  Philadelphia  will  not  resist. 
Besides,  read  this." 

He  showed  me  a  message  just  arrived  from  Wash 
ington  saying  that  the  United  States  was  about 
to  sue  for  peace. 

The  next  day  we  had  news  that  a  truce  had  been 
declared  and  immediately  negotiations  began  be 
tween  Chicago  and  Berlin,  regarding  a  peace  con 
ference,  it  being  finally  decided  that  this  should 
take  place  at  Mt.  Vernon,  in  the  historic  home  of 
George  Washington,  sessions  to  begin  early  in  Sep 
tember,  in  order  to  allow  time  for  the  arrival  of 
delegates  from  Germany. 


158 


CHAPTER  XV 

THRILLING  INCIDENT  AT  WANAMAKER's  STORE  WHEN 
GERMANS   DISHONOUR   AMERICAN    FLAG 

DURING  these  peace  preliminaries  Philadelphia 
accepted  her  fate  with  cheerful  philosophy.  In 
1777  she  had  entertained  British  conquerors,  now 
she  entertained  the  Germans.  An  up-to-date 
meschianza  was  organised,  as  in  Revolutionary  days, 
at  the  magnificent  estate  "Druim  Moir"  of  Samuel 
F.  Houston  in  Chestnut  Hill,  with  all  the  old  fea 
tures  reproduced,  the  pageant,  the  tournament  of 
Knights  Templars  and  the  games,  German  officers 
competing  in  the  latter. 

In  polo  an  American  team  composed  of  William 
H.  T.  Huhn,  Victor  C.  Mather,  Alexander  Brown 
and  Mitchell  Rosengarten  played  against  a  crack 
team  of  German  cavalry  officers  and  beat  them 
easily. 

In  lawn  tennis  the  American  champion,  Richard 
Norris  Williams,  beat  Lieutenant  Froitzheim,  a  fa 
mous  German  player  and  a  friend  of  the  Crown 
Prince,  in  straight  sets,  the  lieutenant  being  pe 
nalised  for  foot  faulting  by  the  referee,  Eddie  von 
Friesen,  a  wearer  of  the  iron  cross,  although  his 
mother  was  a  Philadelphia  woman. 

159 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Thirty  thousand  German  soldiers  crowded  Shibe 
Park  daily  to  watch  the  series  of  exhibition  con 
tests  between  the  Athletics  and  the  Cincinnati  Reds, 
both  teams  being  among  the  first  civilians  captured 
on  the  victors'  entrance  into  Philadelphia.  The 
Reds,  composed  almost  entirely  of  Germans,  owned 
by  Garry  Hermann  and  managed  by  Herzog,  were 
of  course  the  favourites  over  the  Irish-American  co 
horts  of  Cornelius  McGillicuddy ;  but  the  Athletics 
won  the  series  in  a  deciding  game  that  will  never 
be  forgotten.  The  dramatic  moment  came  in  the 
ninth  inning,  with  the  bases  full,  when  the  famous 
Frenchman,  Napoleon  Lajoie,  pinch-hitting  for 
Baker,  advanced  to  the  plate  and  knocked  the  ball 
far  over  Von  Kolnitz's  head  for  a  home  run  and 
the  game. 

Another  interesting  affair  was  a  dinner  given  to 
German  officers  by  editors  of  the  Saturday  Evening 
Post,  on  the  tenth  floor  of  the  Curtis  Building,  the 
menu  comprising  characteristic  Philadelphia  dishes, 
such  as  pepper  pot  soup  with  a  dash  of  sherry, 
and  scrapple  with  fishhouse  punch.  Various  writers 
were  present,  and  there  were  dramatic  meetings  be 
tween  American  war  correspondents  and  Prussian 
generals  who  had  put  them  in  jail  hi  the  1915  cam 
paign.  I  noticed  a  certain  coldness  on  the  part 
of  Richard  Harding  Davis  toward  a  young  Bavarian 
lieutenant  who,  in  Northern  France,  had  conceived 
the  amiable  purpose  of  running  Mr.  Davis  through 
the  ribs  with  a  bayonet;  but  Irvin  S.  Cobb  was  more 
160 


«MY  COUNTRY  'TIS  OF  THEE" 

forgiving  and  drank  clover  club  cocktails  to  the 
health  of  a  burly  colonel  who  had  ordered  him  shot 
as  a  spy  and  graciously  explained  the  proper  way 
of  eating  catfish  and  waffles. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  greatly  interested  when 
informed  by  Owen  Wister  that  these  excellent  dishes 
were  of  German  origin,  having  been  brought  to 
America  by  the  Hessians  in  Revolutionary  days  and 
preserved  by  their  descendants,  such  families  as 
the  Fows  and  the  Faunces,  who  still  occupied  a  part 
of  Northeastern  Philadelphia  known  as  Fishtown. 
His  Imperial  Highness  also  had  an  animated  dis 
cussion  with  Joseph  A.  Steinmetz,  President  of  the 
Aero  Club  of  Pennsylvania,  as  to  the  effectiveness  of 
the  Steinmetz  pendant  hook  bomb  Zeppelin  de 
stroyer. 

The  German  officers  enjoyed  these  days  immensely 
and  made  themselves  at  home  in  the  principal  ho 
tels,  paying  scrupulously  for  their  accommodations. 
General  von  Hindenburg  stopped  at  the  Ritz-Carl- 
ton,  Admiral  von  Tirpitz  at  the  Bellevue-Stratford 
and  others  at  the  Walton  and  the  Adelphia.  Sev 
eral  Prussian  generals  established  themselves  at  the 
Continental  Hotel  because  of  their  interest  in  the 
fact  that  Edward  VII  of  England  stopped  there 
when  he  was  Prince  of  Wales,  and  they  drew  lots 
for  the  privilege  of  sleeping  in  the  historic  bed  that 
had  been  occupied  by  an  English  sovereign. 

The  Crown  Prince  himself  was  domiciled  with  his 
staff  in  E.  T.  Stotesbury's  fine  mansion  on  Walnut 

161 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Street.  Every  day  he  lunched  at  the  Racquet  Club, 
now  occupied  by  German  officers,  and  played  court 
tennis  with  Dr.  Alvin  C.  Kraenzlein,  the  famous 
University  of  Pennsylvania  athlete,  whom  he  had 
met  in  Berlin  when  Kraenzlein  was  coaching  the 
German  Olympic  team  for  the  1916  contests  that 
were  postponed,  owing  to  the  war,  until  1920.  He 
also  had  a  game  with  Jay  Gould,  champion  of  the 
world,  and  being  hopelessly  outclassed,  declared 
laughingly  (the  Crown  Prince  loves  American 
slang)  that  this  young  millionaire  was  "some 
player." 

A  few  days  after  the  meschianza  fetes,  his  Im 
perial  Highness  gave  a  dinner  and  reception  to  some 
of  the  leading  men  in  Philadelphia  and,  despite  prej 
udice,  was  voted  a  remarkable  figure  like  his  father, 
combining  versatile  knowledge  with  personal  charm. 
He  talked  politics  with  Boies  Penrose,  and  reform 
with  Rudolph  Blankenburg.  He  was  interested  in 
A.  J.  Drexel  Biddle's  impartial  enthusiasm  for  Bible 
classes  and  boxing  matches.  He  questioned  Dr. 
D.  J.  McCarthy,  famous  neurologist  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  Pennsylvania,  about  mental  diseases 
caused  by  war.  He  laughed  heartily  on  hearing  a 
limerick  by  Oliver  Herford  beginning:  "There  was 
a  young  prince  Hohenzollern,"  which  was  said  to 
have  delighted  the  British  ambassador.  Finally,  he 
listened  while  Ned  Atherton  and  Morris  L.  Par- 
rish  explained  the  fascination  of  sniff,  a  gambling 
game  played  with  dominoes  much  in  vogue  at 
162 


"MY  COUNTRY  'TIS  OF  THEE" 

the  Racquet  Club.  His  Imperial  Highness  said 
he  preferred  the  German  game  of  skat,  played  with 
cards,  and  James  P.  McNichol,  the  Republican  boss, 
made  a  note  of  this  fact. 

As  I  passed  through  a  gallery  containing  the  mag 
nificent  Stotesbury  collection  of  paintings  I  heard  a 
resounding  voice  saying  with  a  harsh  German  ac 
cent:  "Ach !  I  told  you !  Your  form  of  government  is 
a  failure.  People  need  a  benevolent  paternalism. 
There  is  no  chance  for  military  efficiency  under  a 
republic." 

Turning,  I  recognised  the  stocky  form  of  Com 
mandant  Price  of  the  League  Island  navy  yard,  who 
was  listening  to  a  tirade  from  Admiral  von  Tirpitz. 
The  latter,  it  seems,  was  marvelling  that  the  United 
States  naval  authorities  had  lacked  the  intelligence 
to  cut  a  1,700-yard  canal  from  the  naval  basin  to 
the  Delaware  which  would  have  made  it  impossi 
ble  for  the  Germans  to  tie  up  the  American  reserve 
fleet  by  blocking  the  Schuylkill.  This  canal  would 
also  have  furnished  an  ideal  fresh-water  dry-dock. 

Commandant  Price  had  informed  the  admiral 
that  this  very  plan,  with  an  estimated  cost  of  only 
three  million  dollars,  had  been  repeatedly  brought 
before  Congress,  but  always  unsuccessfully.  In 
other  words,  it  was  no  fault  of  the  navy  if  these 
battleships  were  rendered  useless.  Whereupon  von 
Tirpitz  had  burst  forth  with  his  attack  upon  rep 
resentative  government. 

I  was  told  that  the  Crown  Prince  had  intended 

163 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

to  invite  to  this  gathering  some  of  the  prominent 
women  of  Philadelphia,  particularly  one  famous 
beauty,  whom  he  desired  to  meet,  but  he  was  dis 
suaded  from  this  purpose  by  a  tactful  hint  that  the 
ladies  would  not  accept  his  invitation.  The  men 
might  go,  for  reasons  of  expediency,  but  American 
women  had  no  place  at  the  feast  of  an  invader. 

It  happened,  however,  a  few  days  later,  that  the 
Imperial  wish  was  gratified,  the  occasion  being  an 
auction  for  the  benefit  of  the  American  Red  Cross 
Fund  held  one  afternoon  in  the  gold  ballroom  of 
the  Ritz-Carlton  Hotel.  Tea  was  served  with  music 
by  the  Philadelphia  orchestra  under  Leopold  Sto- 
kowski  and  the  tickets  were  five  dollars. 

In  a  great  crush  (the  gallery  was  reserved  for 
German  officers,  including  the  Crown  Prince)  the 
most  distinguished  society  women  in  Philadelphia 
stepped  forth  smilingly  as  manikins  and  displayed 
on  their  fair  persons  the  hats,  gowns,  furs,  laces 
or  jewels  that  they  had  contributed  to  the  sale.  E. 
T.  Stotesbury  proved  a  very  efficient  auctioneer  and 
large  prices  were  realised. 

Mrs.  G.  G.  Meade  Large  sold  baskets  of  roses 
at  twenty  dollars  each.  Mrs.  W.  J.  Clothier  sold 
three  hats  for  fifty  dollars  each.  Mrs.  Walter  S. 
Thomson,  said  to  be  pro-German,  sold  a  ball-gown 
for  three  hundred  dollars.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Stotesbury 
sold  one  of  her  diamond  tiaras  for  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  Mrs.  Edward  Crozer,  Mrs.  Horatio  Gates 
Lloyd  and  Mrs.  Norman  Mac  Leod  sold  gowns  for 
164 


«MY  COUNTRY  'TIS  OF  THEE" 

three  hundred  dollars  each.  Mrs.  Harry  Wain  Har 
rison  and  Mrs.  Robert  von  Moschzisker  sold  pieces 
of  lace  for  a  hundred  dollars  each. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Antelo  Devereux,  in  smart  riding  cos 
tume,  sold  her  fine  hunter,  led  in  amid  great  ap 
plause,  for  two  thousand  dollars.  Mrs.  George  Q. 
Horwitz  and  Mrs.  Robert  L.  Montgomery  sold  sets 
of  furs  for  a  thousand  dollars  each.  Mrs.  Barclay 
H.  Warburton  sold  her  imported  touring-car  for 
five  thousand  dollars.  Mrs.  Joseph  E.  Widener  sold 
a  set  of  four  bracelets,  one  of  diamonds,  one  of 
rubies,  one  of  sapphires,  one  of  emeralds,  for  fif 
teen  thousand  dollars. 

The  sensation  of  the  afternoon  came  at  the  close 
when  Admiral  von  Tirpitz  bought  a  coat  of  Rus 
sian  sables  offered  by  Mrs.  John  R.  Fell  for  ten 
thousand  dollars,  this  being  followed  by  a  purchase 
of  the  Crown  Prince,  who  gave  thirty  thousand  dol 
lars  for  a  rope  of  pearls  belonging  to  Mrs.  J.  Kears- 
ley  Mitchell. 

All  of  this  was  briefly  recorded  in  the  Philadel 
phia  Press,  which  had  been  made  the  official  Ger 
man  organ  with  daily  editions  in  German  and  Eng 
lish.  The  Crown  Prince  himself  selected  this  pa 
per,  I  was  told,  on  learning  that  the  author  of  one 
of  his  favourite  stories,  "The  Lady  or  the  Tiger,"  by 
Frank  R.  Stockton,  was  once  a  reporter  on  the 
Press. 

A  few  days  later  at  the  Wanamaker  store  on 
Chestnut  Street  the  Crown  Prince  figured  in  an 

165 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

incident  that  became  the  subject  of  international 
comment  and  that  throws  a  strange  light  upon  the 
German  character. 

It  appears  that  the  Crown  Prince  had  become 
interested  in  an  announcement  of  the  Wanamaker 
store  that  half  of  its  profits  for  one  week,  amount 
ing  to  many  thousands  of  dollars,  would  go  to  the 
relief  of  American  soldiers  wounded  in  battle.  His 
Imperial  Highness  expressed  a  desire  to  visit  the 
Wanamaker  establishment,  and  arrived  one  after 
noon  at  the  hour  of  a  widely  advertised  organ  con 
cert  that  had  drawn  great  crowds.  A  special  fea 
ture  was  to  be  the  Lohengrin  wedding  march,  dur 
ing  the  playing  of  which  seven  prominent  society 
women,  acting  on  a  charitable  impulse,  had  con 
sented  to  appear  arrayed  as  bridesmaids  and  one 
of  them  as  a  bride. 

The  Crown  Prince  and  his  staff,  in  brilliant  uni 
forms,  entered  the  vast  rotunda  packed  with  men 
and  women,  just  as  this  interesting  ceremony  was 
beginning  and  took  places  reserved  for  them  as  con 
querors,  near  the  great  bronze  eagle  on  its  granite 
pedestal  that  faces  the  spot  where  William  H.  Taft 
dedicated  the  building  in  December,  1911. 

A  hush  fell  over  the  assembly  as  Dr.  Irvin  J. 
Morgan  at  his  gilded  height  struck  the  inspiring 
chords,  and  a  moment  later  the  wedding  procession 
entered,  led  by  two  white-clad  pages,  and  moved 
slowly  across  the  white  gallery,  Mrs.  Angier  B.  Duke 
(dressed  as  the  bride),  Mrs.  Victor  C.  Mather,  Mrs. 
166 


"MY  COUNTRY  'TIS  OF  THEE" 

A.  J.  Drexel  Diddle,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Gurnee  Munn,  Mrs. 
Oliver  E.  Cromwell,  Miss  Eleanor  B.  Hopkins  and 
Mrs.  George  Wharton  Pepper,  Jr.,  a  tall  and  willowy 
auburn  beauty  and  a  bride  herself  only  a  few 
months  before,  while  Wagner's  immortal  tones 
pealed  through  the  marble  arches. 

As  the  music  ceased  one  of  the  German  officers, 
in  accordance  with  a  prearranged  plan,  nodded  to 
his  aides,  who  stepped  forward  and  spread  a  Ger 
man  flag  over  the  American  eagle.  At  the  same 
moment  the  officer  waved  his  hand  towards  the  or 
gan  loft,  as  a  signal  for  Dr.  Morgan  to  obey  his 
instructions  and  play  "The  Watch  on  the  Rhine." 

The  crowd  knew  what  was  coming  and  waited 
in  sickening  silence,  then  gasped  in  amazement  and 
joy  as  the  organ  gloriously  sounded  forth,  "My 
Country,  Tis  of  Thee." 

"Stop!"  shouted  the  Prussian,  purple  with  rage. 
"Stop!" 

But  Irvin  Morgan  played  on  like  a  good  Ameri 
can,  thrilling  the  great  audience  with  the  treasured 
message: 

"Sweet  land  of  Liberty, 
Of  Thee  I  sing." 

At  this  moment  a  little  fellow  seven  years  old, 
from  Camden,  N.  J.,  in  boy-scout  uniform,  did  a 
thing  that  will  live  in  American  history.  He  had 
been  taught  to  rise  when  he  heard  that  music  and 
sing  the  dear  words  that  his  mother  had  taught  him, 

167 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

and  he  could  not  understand  why  all  these  Ameri 
cans  were  silent.  Why  didn't  they  sing?  He  looked 
about  him  anxiously.  He  had  seen  those  Prussian 
officers  spread  the  German  flag  over  the  American 
eagle,  and  it  suddenly  flashed  into  his  mind  that 
it  was  his  business  to  do  something.  He  must  tear 
down  that  hateful  flag.  He  must  do  it  if  he  died 
and,  springing  forward  before  any  one  could  divine 
his  purpose,  he  dragged  the  German  banner  to  the 
floor  and,  standing  on  it,  waved  a  little  American 
flag  drawn  from  his  pocket. 

"Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  Pilgrims'  pride!" 

he  shrilled  out,  singing  all  alone  while  the  proud 
organ  thundered  forth  its  accompaniment. 

As  a  match  starts  the  powder  train  so  this  boyish 
act  fired  the  whole  gathering  of  dumb  patriots  and 
straightway,  Germans  or  no  Germans,  ten  thousand 
American  voices  took  up  the  words  while  the  youth 
ful  leader,  with  eyes  flashing,  held  up  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  there  by  the  eagle. 

A  German  officer,  furious  at  this  defiance,  sprang 
toward  the  boy  with  lifted  sword  and  would  have 
struck  him  down  had  not  his  Imperial  master  inter 
vened  and  with  his  own  weapon  caught  the  descend 
ing  blow. 

"Shame!      Coward!"    cried   the   Crown    Prince. 
"We  do  not  fight  with  children." 
168 


"MY  COUNTRY  'TIS  OF  THEE" 

And  the  end  of  it  was  that  no  one  was  punished, 
although  concerts  were  forbidden  after  this  in  the 
Wanamaker  store. 

I  have  related  this  incident  not  only  for  its  own 
sake,  but  because  of  its  bearing  on  subsequent 
events. 

"I'm  going  to  write  a  story  about  that  boy,  I 
said  to  W.  Barran  Lewis,  who  stood  near  me.  "Do 
you  know  his  name?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  editor.  "He  is  Lemuel  A.  Wid- 
ding,  Jr.  Makes  a  good  story,  doesn't  it?" 

Lemuel  A.  Widding!  Where  had  I  heard  that 
name?  Suddenly  I  remembered — Kingston,  Ja 
maica,  and  Lieutenant  Ryerson  and  the  lovely  girl 
who  had  told  me  about  her  brother's  ravings.  That 
was  the  name  he  had  called  out  again  and  again 
in  his  delirium.  Lemuel  A.  Widding! 

In  spite  of  my  interest  in  this  puzzling  circum 
stance  I  was  unable  to  investigate  it,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  I  was  hurried  off  to  Mount  Vernon  for 
the  Peace  Conference,  but  I  wired  Miss  Ryerson  in 
Richmond  of  my  discovery  and  gave  her  the  boy's 
address  in  Camden,  N.  J.  Then  I  thought  no  more 
about  the  matter,  being  absorbed  in  my  duties. 


169 


CHAPTER  XVI 

AN  AMERICAN  GIRL  BRINGS  NEWS  THAT  CHANGES 
THE  COURSE  OF  THE  MOUNT  VERNON  PEACE 
CONFERENCE 

THE  sessions  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Peace  Con 
gress  were  held  in  a  large  room  of  the  historic  man 
sion  that  was  George  Washington's  business  office. 
The  United  States  was  represented  by  General 
Leonard  Wood,  William  H.  Taft  and  Elihu  Root; 
Germany  by  General  von  Hindenburg,  General  von 
Kluck  and  Count  von  Bernstoff. 

Although  I  was  not  personally  present  at  these 
discussions  I  am  able,  thanks  to  the  standing  of  the 
London  Times,  to  set  forth  the  main  points  on  the 
highest  authority. 

In  the  very  first  session  the  peace  commission 
ers  came  straight  to  the  main  question. 

"I  am  instructed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,"  began  General  Wood,  "to  ask  your  Excel 
lency  if  the  German  Imperial  Government  will 
agree  to  withdraw  their  armies  from  America  in 
consideration  of  receiving  a  money  indemnity?" 

"No,    sir,"    replied    General    von    Hindenburg. 
"That  is  quite  out  of  the  question." 
170 


GERMAN    GUNS     UK8TBOY    THE     HOTKI,    TAFT. 


PEACE  CONFERENCE 


"A  large  indemnity?  I  am  empowered  to  offer 
three  thousand  million  dollars,  which  is  three  times 
as  much,  your  Excellency  will  remember,  as  the  Im 
perial  German  Government  accepted  for  withdraw 
ing  from  France  in  1870." 

"Yes,  and  we  always  regretted  it,"  snapped  von 
Hindenburg.  "We  should  have  kept  that  territory, 
or  part  of  it.  We  are  going  to  keep  this  territory. 
That  was  our  original  intention  in  coming  here. 
We  need  this  Atlantic  seaboard  for  the  extension 
of  the  German  idea,  for  the  spread  of  German  civ 
ilisation,  for  our  inevitable  expansion  as  the  great 
world  power." 

"Suppose  we  agreed  to  pay  four  billion  dollars?" 
suggested  the  American  commander. 

Von  Hindenburg  shook  his  head  and  then  in  his 
rough,  positive  way:  "No,  General.  What  we  have 
taken  by  our  victorious  arms  we  shall  hold  for  our 
children  and  our  grandchildren.  I  am  instructed 
to  say,  however,  that  the  Imperial  German  Govern 
ment  will  make  one  important  concession  to  the 
United  States.  We  will  withdraw  our  troops  from 
the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi  which  we  now  hold, 
as  you  know;  we  will  withdraw  from  Galveston, 
New  Orleans,  Pensacola,  Tampa,  Key  West;  in 
short,  from  all  ports  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  in 
Florida.  If  you  will  allow  me,  gentlemen,  I  will 
show  you  on  this  map  what  we  propose  to  surren 
der  to  you  and  what  we  propose  to  keep." 

The  venerable  Field  Marshal  unrolled  upon  the 

171 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

broad  surface  of  George  Washington's  desk  a  beau 
tifully  shaded  relief  map  of  the  United  States,  and 
General  Wood,  ex-President  Taft  and  Elihu  Root 
bent  over  it  with  tense  faces  and  studied  a  heavy 
black  line  that  indicated  the  proposed  boundary 
between  the  United  States  and  the  territory  claimed 
by  the  invaders.  This  latter  included  all  of  New 
England,  about  one-third  of  New  York  and  Penn 
sylvania  (the  southeastern  portions),  all  of  New 
Jersey  and  Delaware,  nearly  all  of  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  and  all  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia. 

"You  observe,  gentlemen,"  said  von  Hindenburg, 
"that  our  American  province  is  to  bear  the  name 
New  Germany.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Can 
ada,  on  the  east  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  on  the  south 
by  Florida,  and  on  the  west  by  Alabama  and  the 
Allegheny  Mountains.  It  is  a  strip  of  land,  roughly 
speaking,  a  thousand  miles  long  and  two  hundred 
miles  wide." 

"About  the  area  of  the  German  Empire,"  said  ex- 
President  Taft. 

"Possibly,  but  not  one-tenth  of  the  entire  ter 
ritory  of  the  United  States,  leaving  out  Alaska.  We 
feel  that  as  conquerors  we  are  asking  little  enough." 
He  eyed  the  Americans  keenly. 

"You  are  asking  us  to  give  up  New  York,  Phila 
delphia  and  Washington  and  all  of  New  England," 
said  Elihu  Root  very  quietly.  "Does  your  Excel 
lency  realise  what  that  means  to  us?  New  England 
172 


PEACE  CONFERENCE 


is  the  cradle  of  our  liberties.  New  York  is  the 
heart  of  the  nation.  Washington  is  our  capital." 

"Washington  was  your  capital,"  broke  in  Gen 
eral  von  Kluck,  with  a  laugh. 

"I  can  assure  your  Excellency,"  said  General 
Wood,  keeping  his  composure  with  an  effort,  "that 
the  American  people  will  never  consent  to  such 
a  sacrifice  of  territory.  You  may  drive  us  back  to 
the  deserts  of  Arizona,  you  may  drive  us  back  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  we  will  fight  on." 

Von  Hindenburg's  eyes  narrowed  dangerously. 
"Ah,  so!"  he  smiled  grimly.  "Do  you  know  what 
will  happen  if  you  refuse  our  terms?  In  the  next 
few  months  we  shall  land  expeditions  from  Ger 
many  with  a  million  more  soldiers.  That  will  give 
us  a  million  and  a  half  men  on  American  soil.  We 
shall  then  invade  the  Mississippi  Valley  from  New 
Orleans,  and  our  next  offer  of  terms  will  be  made 
to  you  from  St.  Louis  or  Chicago,  and  it  will  be 
a  very  different  offer" 

"If  your  Excellency  will  allow  me,"  said  Elihu 
Root  in  a  conciliatory  tone,  "may  I  ask  if  the  Im 
perial  German  Government  does  not  recognise  that 
there  will  be  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  per 
manently  holding  a  strip  of  land  along  our  Atlantic 
seaboard?" 

"What  difficulties?  England  holds  Canada, 
doesn't  she?  Spain  held  Mexico,  did  she  not?" 

"But  the  Mexicans  were  willing  to  be  held.  Your 
Excellency  must  realise  that  in  New  England,  in 

173 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

New  York,  in  New  Jersey,  you  would  be  dealing  with 
irreconcilable  hatred." 

"Nothing  is  irreconcilable.  Look  at  Belgium. 
They  hated  us  in  1915,  did  they  not?  But  sixty-five 
per  cent,  of  them  accepted  German  citizenship  when 
we  offered  it  to  them  after  the  peace  in  1919,  and 
they  have  been  a  well-behaved  German  province 
ever  since." 

"You  mean  to  say  that  New  England  would  ever 
become  a  German  province?"  protested  William  H. 
Taft.  "Do  you  think  that  New  York  and  Virginia 
will  ever  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Ger 
man  Emperor?" 

"Of  course  they  will,  just  as  most  of  the  Span 
iards  you  conquered  in  the  Philippine  Islands  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  America.  They  swore  they 
would  not  but  they  did.  Men  follow  the  laws  of 
necessity.  Half  of  your  population  are  of  foreign  de 
scent.  Millions  of  them  are  of  German  descent. 
These  people  crowded  over  here  from  Europe  be 
cause  they  were  starving  and  you  have  kept  them 
starving.  They  will  come  to  us  because  we  treat 
them  better;  we  give  them  higher  wages,  cleaner 
homes,  more  happiness.  They  have  come  to  us 
already;  the  figures  prove  it.  Not  ten  per  cent,  of 
the  people  of  New  York  and  New  England  have 
moved  away  since  the  German  occupation,  although 
they  were  free  to  go.  Why  is  that?  Because  they 
like  our  form  of  government,  they  see  that  it  in- 
174 


PEACE  CONFERENCE 


sures  to  them  and  their  children  the  benefits  of  a 
higher  civilisation." 

My  informant  assured  me  that  at  this  point  ex- 
President  Taft,  in  spite  of  his  even  temper,  almost 
exploded  with  indignation,  while  General  Wood 
rose  abruptly  from  his  seat. 

For  a  time  it  looked  as  if  this  first  Peace  Con 
ference  session  would  break  up  in  a  storm  of  angry 
recrimination;  but  Elihu  Root,  by  tactful  appeals, 
finally  smoothed  things  over  and  an  adjournment 
was  taken  for  forty-eight  hours,  during  which  it  was 
agreed  that  both  sides,  by  telegraph  and  cable, 
should  lay  the  situation  before  their  respective  gov 
ernments  in  Chicago  and  Berlin. 

I  remained  at  Mount  Vernon  for  two  weeks  while 
the  truce  lasted.  Every  day  the  peace  commis 
sioners  met  for,  hours  of  argument  and  pleading, 
but  the  deadlock  of  conflicting  purposes  was  not 
broken.  Both  sides  kept  in  touch  with  their  gov 
ernments  and  both  made  concessions.  America 
raised  her  indemnity  offer  to  five  billion  dollars, 
to  six  billion  dollars,  to  seven  billion  dollars,  but 
declared  she  would  never  surrender  one  foot  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  Germany  lessened  her  demands 
for  territory,  but  refused  to  withdraw  from  New 
York,  New  England  and  Philadelphia. 

For  some  days  this  deadlock  continued,  then 
America  began  to  weaken.  She  felt  herself  over 
powered.  The  consequences  of  continuing  the  war 
were  too  frightful  to  contemplate  and,  on  Septem- 

175 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

ber  8,  I  cabled  my  paper  that  the  United  States 
would  probably  cede  to  Germany  within  twenty- 
four  hours  the  whole  of  New  England  and  a  part 
of  New  York  State,  including  New  York  City  and 
Long  Island.  This  was  the  general  opinion  when, 
suddenly,  out  of  a  clear  sky  came  a  dramatic  hap 
pening  destined  to  change  the  course  of  events  and 
draw  me  personally  into  a  whirlpool  of  exciting 
adventures. 

It  was  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
September  9,  a  blazing  hot  day,  and  I  was  seated 
on  the  lawn  under  one  of  the  fine  magnolia-trees 
presented  years  before  by  Prince  Henry  of  Prus 
sia,  wondering  how  much  longer  I  must  swelter  here 
before  getting  off  my  despatch  to  the  Times,  when 
I  heard  the  panting  of  a  swiftly  approaching  auto 
mobile  which  presently  drew  up  outside  the  grounds. 
A  moment  later  a  coloured  chauffeur  approached 
and  asked  if  I  was  Mr.  James  Langston.  I  told 
him  I  was,  and  he  said  a  lady  in  the  car  wanted 
to  speak  to  me. 

"A  lady?"  I  asked  in  surprise.  "Did  she  give 
her  name?" 

The  chauffeur  broke  into  a  beaming  smile.  "She 
didn't  give  no  name,  boss,  but  she  sure  is  a  ve'hy 
handsome  lady,  an'  she's  powh'ful  anxious  to  see 
you." 

I  lost  no  time  in  answering  this  mysterious  sum 
mons,  and  a  little  later  found  myself  in  the  pres- 
176 


PEACE  CONFERENCE 


ence  of  a  young  woman  whom  I  recognised,  when 
she  drew  aside  her  veil,  as  Miss  Mary  Ryerson,  sis 
ter  of  Lieutenant  Randolph  Ryerson.  With  her  in 
the  car  were  her  brother  and  a  tall,  gaunt  man  with 
deep-set  eyes.  They  were  all  travel-stained,  and  the 
car  showed  the  battering  of  Virginia  mountain  roads. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Langston,"  cried  the  girl  eagerly,  "we 
have  such  wonderful  news!  The  conference  isn't 
over?  They  haven't  yielded  to  Germany?" 

"No,"  said  I.    "Not  yet." 

"They  mustn't  yield.  We  have  news  that  changes 
everything.  Oh,  it's  so  splendid!  America  is  go 
ing  to  win." 

Her  lovely  face  was  glowing  with  enthusiasm, 
but  I  shook  my  head. 

"America's  fleet  is  destroyed.  Her  army  is  beaten. 
How  can  she  win?" 

Miss  Ryerson  turned  to  her  brother  and  to  the 
other  man.  "Go  with  Mr.  Langston.  Tell  him 
everything.  Explain  everything.  He  wiU  take  you 
to  General  Wood."  She  fixed  her  radiant  eyes  on 
me.  "You  will  help  us?  I  can  count  on  you?  Re 
member,  it's  for  America!" 

"I'll  do  my  best,"  I  promised,  yielding  to  the  spell 

of  her  charm  and  spirit.  "May  I  ask "  I 

glanced  at  the  tall  man  who  was  getting  out  of 
the  car. 

"Ah!  Now  you  will  believe.  You  will  see  how 
God  is  guiding  us.  This  is  the  father  of  the  brave 

177 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

little  boy  in  Wanamaker's  store.  He  has  seen 
Thomas  A.  Edison,  and  Mr.  Edison  says  his  plan 
to  destroy  the  German  fleet  is  absolutely  sound. 
Mr.  Langston,  Mr.  Lemuel  A.  Widding.  Now 
hurry!" 


178 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THOMAS    A.    EDISON    MAKES    A    SERIOUS    MISTAKE    IN 
ACCEPTING    A   DINNER    INVITATION 

As  General  Wood  left  the  peace  conference  (in 
reply  to  our  urgent  summons)  and  walked  slowly 
across  the  Mount  Vernon  lawn  to  join  us  in  the 
summer  house,  he  looked  haggard  and  dejected. 

"What  is  it?"  he  asked. 

"Good  news,  General,"  I  whispered,  but  he  shook 
his  head  wearily. 

"No,  it's  all  over.  They  have  worn  us  down. 
Our  fleet  is  destroyed,  our  army  is  beaten.  We  are 
on  the  point  of  ceding  New  England  and  New 
York  to  Germany.  There  is  nothing  else  to  do." 

"Wait!  We  have  information  that  may  change 
everything.  Let  me  introduce  Lieutenant  Ryerson 
and  Mr.  Widding — General  Wood."  They  bowed 
politely.  "Mr.  Widding  has  just  seen  Thomas  A. 
Edison." 

That  was  a  name  to  conjure  with,  and  the  Gen 
eral's  face  brightened. 

"I'm  listening,"  he  said. 

We  settled  back  in  our  chairs  and  Lemuel  A. 
Widding,  with  awkward  movements,  drew  from  his 

179 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

pockets  some  papers  which  he  offered  to  the  Ameri 
can  commander. 

"These  speak  for  themselves,  General,"  he  began. 
"Here  is  a  brief  description  of  my  invention  for 
destroying  the  German  fleet.  Here  are  blueprints 
that  make  it  clearer.  Here  is  the  written  endorse 
ment  of  Thomas  A.  Edison." 

For  a  long  time  General  Wood  studied  these  pa 
pers  with  close  attention,  then  he  sat  silent,  look 
ing  out  over  the  broad  Potomac,  his  noble  face 
stern  with  care.  I  saw  that  his  hair  had  whitened 
noticeably  in  the  last  two  months. 

"If  this  is  true,  it's  more  important  than  you 

realise.  It's  so  important  that "  He  searched 

us  with  his  kind  but  keen  grey  eyes. 

"Thomas  A.  Edison  says  it's  true,"  put  in  Wid- 
ding.  "That  ought  to  be  good  enough  evidence." 

"And  Lieutenant  Ryerson  tells  me  that  Admiral 
Fletcher  spoke  favourably  of  the  matter,"  I  added. 

"He  did,  General,"  declared  the  lieutenant.  "It 
was  on  the  Pennsylvania  a  few  hours  before  we  went 
into  battle.  The  admiral  had  been  looking  over 
Mr.  Widding's  specifications  the  night  before  and 
he  said — I  remember  his  words:  This  is  a  great 
idea.  If  we  had  it  in  operation  now  we  could 
destroy  the  German  fleet.' '' 

At  this  moment  there  came  a  fateful  interruption 
in  the  form  of  an  urgent  call  for  General  Wood 
from  the  conference  hall  and  he  asked  us  to  ex- 
180 


EDISON'S  PERIL 


cuse  him  until  the  next  day  when  he  would  take 
the  matter  up  seriously. 

We  returned  at  once  to  Washington  and  I  spent 
that  evening  at  the  Cosmos  Club  listening  to  a 
lecture  by  my  oceanographical  friend,  Dr.  Austin 
H.  Clark,  on  deep-sea  lilies  that  eat  meat.  At  about 
nine  o'clock  I  was  called  to  the  telephone,  and  pres 
ently  recognised  the  agitated  voice  of  Miss  Ryerson, 
who  said  that  an  extraordinary  thing  had  happened 
and  begged  me  to  come  to  her  at  once.  She  was 
stopping  at  the  Shoreham,  just  across  the  street, 
and  five  minutes  later  we  were  talking  earnestly  in 
the  spacious  blue-and-white  salon  with  its  flowers 
and  restful  lights.  Needless  to  say,  I  preferred  a 
talk  with  this  beautiful  girl  to  the  most  learned 
discussion  of  deep-sea  lilies. 

Her  message  was  brief  but  important.  She  had 
just  been  telephoning  in  a  drug-store  on  Pennsyl 
vania  Avenue  when  she  was  surprised  to  hear  the 
name  of  Thomas  A.  Edison  mentioned  several  times 
by  a  man  in  the  next  booth  who  was  speaking  in 
German.  Miss  Ryerson  understood  German  and, 
listening  attentively,  she  made  out  enough  to  be 
sure  that  an  enemy's  plot  was  on  foot  to  lay  hold 
of  the  great  inventor,  to  abduct  him  forcibly,  so 
that  he  could  no  longer  help  the  work  of  Ameri 
can  defence. 

Greatly  alarmed  she  had  called  me  up  and  now 
urged  me  to  warn  the  military  authorities,  without 

181 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

wasting  a  moment,  so  that  they  would  take  steps 
to  protect  Mr.  Edison. 

In  this  emergency  I  decided  to  appeal  to  Gen 
eral  E.  M.  Weaver,  Chief  of  Coast  Artillery,  whom 
I  knew  from  having  played  golf  with  him  at  Chevy 
Chase,  and,  after  telephoning,  I  hurried  to  his  house 
in  a  taxicab.  The  general  looked  grave  when  I  re 
peated  Miss  Ryerson's  story,  and  said  that  this  ac 
corded  with  other  reports  of  German  underground 
activities  that  had  come  to  his  knowledge.  Of 
course,  a  guard  must  be  furnished  for  Mr.  Edison, 
who  was  in  Baltimore  at  the  time,  working  out 
plans  for  the  scientific  defences  of  Washington  in 
the  physical  laboratories  of  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University. 

"I  must  talk  with  Edison,"  said  the  General. 
"Suppose  you  go  to  Baltimore  in  the  morning,  Mr. 
Langston,  with  a  note  from  me.  It's  only  forty- 
five  minutes  and — tell  Mr.  Edison  that  I  will  be 
greatly  relieved  if  he  will  return  to  Washington 
with  you." 

I  had  interviewed  Thomas  A.  Edison  on  several 
occasions  and  gained  his  confidence,  so  that  he  re 
ceived  me  cordially  the  next  morning  in  Baltimore 
and,  in  deference  to  General  Weaver's  desire,  agreed 
to  run  down  to  Washington  that  afternoon,  al 
though  he  laughed  at  the  idea  of  any  danger. 

As  we  rode  on  the  train  the  inventor  talked 
freely  of  plans  for  defending  the  national  capital 
against  General  von  Mackensen's  army  which,  hav- 
182 


EDISON'S  PERIL 


ing  occupied  Richmond,  was  moving  up  slowly 
through  Virginia.  It  is  a  matter  of  familiar  his 
tory  now  that  these  plans  provided  for  the  use  of 
liquid  chlorine  against  the  invaders,  this  dangerous 
substance  to  be  dropped  upon  the  advancing  army 
from  a  fleet  of  powerful  aeroplanes.  Mr.  Edison 
seemed  hopeful  of  the  outcome. 

He  questioned  me  about  Lemuel  A.  Widding  and 
was  interested  to  learn  that  Widding  was  employed 
at  the  works  of  the  Victor  Talking  Machine  (Edi- 

n's  own  invention)  in  Camden,  N.  J.  His  eyes 
brightened  when  I  told  him  of  young  Lemuel's  thrill 
ing  act  at  Wanamaker's  Philadelphia  store  which, 
as  I  now  explained,  led  to  the  meeting  of  the  two 
inventors  through  the  efforts  of  Miss  Ryerson. 

"There's  something  queer  about  this,"  mused  the 
famous  electrician.  "Widding  tells  me  he  submit 
ted  his  idea  to  the  Navy  Department  over  a  year 
ago.  Think  of  that!  An  idea  bigger  than  the 
submarine!" 

"Is  it  possible?" 

"No  doubt  of  it.  Widding's  invention  will 
change  the  condition  of  naval  warfare — it's  bound 
to.  I  wouldn't  give  five  cents  for  the  German  fleet 
when  we  get  this  thing  working.  All  we  need  is 
time. 

"Mr.  Langston,  there  are  some  big  surprises  ahead 
for  the  American  people  and  for  the  Germans," 
continued  the  inventor.  "They  say  America  is  as 
helpless  as  Belgium  or  China.  I  say  nonsense.  It's 

183 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

true  that  we  have  lost  our  fleet  and  some  of  our  big 
cities  and  that  the  Germans  have  three  armies  on  our 
soil,  but  the  fine  old  qualities  of  American  grit  and 
American  resourcefulness  are  still  here  and  we'll  use 
'em.  If  we  can't  win  battles  in  the  old  way,  we'll 
find  new  ways. 

"Listen  to  this,  my  friend.  Have  you  heard  of 
the  Committee  of  Twenty-one?  No?  Very  few 
have.  It's  a  body  of  rich  and  patriotic  Americans, , 
big  business  men,  who  made  up  their  minds,  back  in 
July,  that  the  government  wasn't  up  to  the  job 
of  saving  this  nation.  So  they  decided  to  save  it 
themselves  by  business  methods,  efficiency  methods. 
There's  a  lot  of  nonsense  talked  about  German  effi 
ciency.  We'll  show  them  a  few  things  about  Ameri 
can  efficiency.  What  made  the  United  States  the 
greatest  and  richest  country  in  the  world?  Was  it 
German  efficiency?  What  gave  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  its  world  supremacy?  Was  it  German 
efficiency?  It  was  the  American  brains  of  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  wasn't  it?" 

"Is  Mr.  Rockefeller  one  of  the  Committee  of 
Twenty-one?" 

"Of  course,  he  is,  and  so  are  Andrew  Carnegie, 
James  J.  Hill,  J.  P.  Morgan,  John  Wanamaker,  John 
H.  Fahey,  James  B.  Duke,  Henry  B.  Joy,  Daniel  B. 
Guggenheim,  John  D.  Ryan,  J.  B.  Widener,  Emerson 
McMillin,  Philip  D.  Armour,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt, 
Elihu  Root,  George  W.  Perkins,  Asa  G.  Candler  and 
two  or  three  others,  including  myself. 
184 


EDISON'S  PERIL 


"The  Germans  are  getting  over  the  idea  that 
America  is  as  helpless  as  Belgium  or  China.  Von 
Mackensen  is  going  slow,  holding  back  his  army  be 
cause  he  doesn't  know  what  we  have  up  our  sleeve 
at  the  Potomac.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have 
mighty  little  except  this  liquid  chlorine  and — well, 
we're  having  trouble  with  the  steel  containers  and 
with  the  releasing  device." 

.,  "You  mean  the  device  that  drops  the  contain 
ers  from  the  aeroplanes?" 

"That's  it.  We  need  time  to  perfect  the  thing. 
We've  spread  fake  reports  about  wonderful  elec 
tric  mines  that  will  blow  up  a  brigade,  and  that 
helped  some,  and  we  delayed  von  Mackensen  for 
two  weeks  south  of  Fredericksburg  by  spreading 
lines  of  striped  cheese-cloth,  miles  of  it,  along  a 
rugged  valley.  His  aeroplane  scouts  couldn't  make 
out  what  that  cheese-cloth  was  for;  they  thought 
it  might  be  some  new  kind  of  electrocution  storage 
battery,  so  the  whole  army  waited." 

As  we  talked,  the  train  stopped  at  Hyattsville, 
a  few  miles  out  of  Washington,  and  a  well-set-up 
officer  in  uniform  came  aboard  and  approached  us 
with  a  pleasant  smile. 

"Mr.  Edison?  I  am  Captain  Campbell  of  Gen 
eral  Wood's  staff,"  he  said.  "General  Wood  is 
outside  in  his  automobile  and  asks  you  to  join  him. 
The  General  thought  it  would  be  pleasanter  to 
motor  down  to  Mount  Vernon." 

"That's  very  kind,"  said  Edison,  rising. 

185 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"And,  Mr.  Langston,"  continued  Captain  Camp 
bell,  addressing  me,  "General  Wood  presents  his 
compliments  and  hopes  you  will  dine  with  Mr.  Edi 
son  and  himself  at  seven  this  evening." 

"With  pleasure."  I  bowed  and  watched  them  as, 
they  left  the  train  and  entered  a  military-looking 
automobile  that  stood  near  the  track  with  curtains 
drawn.  A  moment  later  they  rolled  away  and  I 
settled  back  in  my  seat,  reflecting  complacently  on 
the  high  confidence  that  had  been  shown  in  my  dis 
cretion. 

Two  hours  later  I  reached  Mount  Vernon  and 
was  surprised,  as  I  left  the  train,  to  find  General 
Wood  himself  waiting  on  the  platform. 

"You  got  back  quickly,  General,"  I  said. 

He  gave  me  a  sharp  glance.  "Back  from 
where?" 

"Why,  from  where  you  met  our  train." 

"Your  train?  What  train?  I  came  here  to  meet 
Mr.  Edison." 

"But  you  did  meet  him — two  hours  ago — in  your 
automobile — at  Hyattsville." 

The  general  stared  in  amazement.  "I  don't 
know  what  you  are  talking  about.  I  haven't  left 
Mount  Version.  I  haven't  seen  Mr.  Edison.  What 
has  happened?  Tell  me!" 

"Wait!"  I  said,  as  the  truth  began  to  break  on 
me.  "Is  there  a  Captain  Campbell  on  your  staff?" 

He  shook  his  head.    "No." 
186 


EDISON'S  PERIL 


"Then — then "  I  was  trying  to  piece  to 
gether  the  evidence. 

"Well?  Go  on!"  he  urged  impatiently,  where 
upon  I  related  the  events  of  the  morning. 

"Good  Lord!"  he  cried.  "It's  an  abduction — un 
questionably.  This  Captain  Campbell  was  a  Ger 
man  spy.  You  say  the  automobile  curtains  were 
drawn?  That  made  it  dark  inside,  and  no  doubt 
the  pretended  General  Wood  wore  motor  goggles. 
Before  Edison  discovered  the  trick  they  were  off 
at  full  speed  and  he  was  overpowered  on  the  back 
seat.  Think  of  that!  Thomas  A.  Edison  abducted 
by  the  Germans!" 

"Why  would  they  do  such  a  thing?" 

"Why?  Don't  you  see?  That  invention  of  Wid- 
ding's  will  destroy  the  German  fleet.  It's  a  matter 
of  life  and  death  to  them  and  Edison  knows  all 
about  it — all  the  details — Widding  told  him." 

"Yes,"  said  I.  "My  friend  Miss  Ryerson  brought 
Widding  to  Mr.  Edison  a  few  days  ago,  but — how 
could  the  Germans  have  known  that?" 

The  general's  face  darkened.  "How  do  they 
know  all  sorts  of  things?  Somebody  tells  them. 
Somebody  told  them  this." 

"But  Widding  himself  knows  all  about  his  own 
invention.  It  won't  do  the  Germans  any  -good  to 
abduct  Edison  unless " 

Our  eyes  met  in  sudden  alarm. 

"By  George,  you're  right!"  exclaimed  Wood. 

187 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"Where  is  Widding?  Is  he  stopping  at  your  ho 
tel?" 

"Yes.  We're  all  there,  Miss  Ryerson  and  her 
brother  and  Widding  and  I." 

"Call  up  the  hotel — quick.  We  must  know  about 
this." 

A  minute  later  I  had  Miss  Ryerson  on  the  'phone 
and  as  soon  as  I  heard  her  voice  I  knew  that  some 
thing  was  wrong. 

"What  does  she  say?"  asked  the  general  anx 
iously,  as  I  hung  up  the  receiver. 

"She  is  very  much  distressed.  She  says  Widding 
and  her  brother  disappeared  from  the  hotel  last 
night  and  no  one  has  any  idea  where  they  are." 

Here  were  startling  happenings  and  the  develop 
ments  were  even  more  startling,  but,  before  following 
these  threads  of  mystery  (days  passed  and  they 
were  still  unravelled)  I  must  set  forth  events  that 
immediately  succeeded  the  rupture  of  peace  nego 
tiations.  I  have  reason  to  know  that  the  Committee 
of  Twenty-one  brought  pressure  upon  our  peace  com 
missioners,  through  Washington  and  the  public 
press,  with  the  result  that  their  attitude  stiffened 
towards  the  enemy  and  presently  became  almost 
defiant,  so  that  on  October  2,  1921,  allj «  "orts 
towards  peace  were  abandoned.  And  on  ber 
3  it  was  officially  announced  that  the  Unites  utates 
and  Germany  were  again  at  war. 


188 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

I     WITNESS     THE     BATTLE     OF     THE     SUSQUEHANNA 
FROM    VINCENT    ASTOR's     AEROPLANE 

DURING  the  next  week,  in  the  performance  of  my 
newspaper  duties,  I  visited  Washington  and  Balti 
more,  both  of  these  cities  being  now  in  imminent 
danger  of  attack,  the  latter  from  von  Hindenburg's 
army  south  of  Philadelphia,  the  former  from  the 
newly  landed  German  expedition  that  was  en 
camped  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay  near  Nor 
folk,  Virginia,  which  was  already  occupied  by  the 
enemy. 

I  found  a  striking  contrast  between  the  psychol 
ogy  of  Washington  and  that  of  Baltimore.  The 
national  capital,  abandoned  by  its  government, 
awaited  in  dull  despair  the  arrival  of  the  conquerors 
with  no  thought  of  resistance,  but  Baltimore  was 
girding  up  her  loins  to  fight.  Washington,  burned 
by  t"  British  in  1812,  had  learned  her  lesson,  but 
Bal  e  had  never  known  the  ravages  of  an  in 
vader.  Proudest  of  southern  cities,  she  now  made 
ready  to  stand  against  the  Germans.  Let  New  York 
and  Boston  and  Philadelphia  surrender,  if  they 
pleased,  Baltimore  would  not  surrender. 

189 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

On  the  night  of  my  arrival  in  the  Monumental 
City,  September  15,  I  found  bonfires  blazing  and 
crowds  thronging  the  streets.  There  was  to  be  a 
great  mass  meeting  at  the  Fifth  Regiment  Ar 
moury,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  scene  as  I  stood 
on  Hoffman  Street  with  my  friend  F.  R.  Kent,  Edi 
tor  of  the  Baltimore  Sun,  and  watched  the  multi 
tude  press  within  the  fortress-like  walls.  This  huge 
grey  building  had  seen  excitement  before,  as  when 
Wilson  and  Bryan  triumphed  here  at  the  Demo 
cratic  convention  of  1912,  but  nothing  like  this. 

As  far  as  I  could  see  down  Bolton  Street  and 
Hoffman  Street  were  dense  crowds  cheering  fran 
tically  as  troops  of  the  Maryland  National  Guard 
marched  past  with  crashing  bands,  the  famous 
"Fighting  Fourth"  (how  the  crowd  cheered  them!), 
the  "Dandy  Fifth,"  Baltimore's  particular  pride, 
then  the  First  Regiment,  then  the  First  Separate 
Company,  coloured  infantry  and  finally  the  crack 
cavalry  "Troop  A"  on  their  black  horses,  led  by 
Captain  John  C.  Cockey,  of  whom  it  was  said  that 
he  could  make  his  big  hunter,  Belvedere,  climb  the 
side  of  a  house. 

The  immense  auditorium,  gay  with  flags  and  na 
tional  emblems,  was  packed  to  its  capacity  of  20,- 
000,  and  I  felt  a  real  thrill  when,  after  a  prayer 
by  Cardinal  Gibbons,  a  thousand  school  girls,  four 
abreast  and  all  in  white,  the  little  ones  first,  moved 
slowly  up  the  three  aisles  to  seats  in  front,  singing 
190 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


"Onward  Christian  Soldiers,"  with  the  Fifth  Regi 
ment  band  leading  them. 

Gathered  on  the  platform  were  the  foremost  citi 
zens  of  Baltimore,  the  ablest  men  in  Maryland,  in 
cluding  Mayor  J.  H.  Preston,  Douglas  Thomas, 
Frank  A.  Furst,  U.  S.  Senator  John  Walter  Smith, 
Hon.  J.  Charles  Linthicum,  ex-Gov.  Edwin  Warfield, 
Col.  Ral  Parr,  John  W.  Frick,  John  M.  Dennis, 
Douglas  H.  Gordon,  John  E.  Hurst,  Franklin  P. 
Cator,  Capt.  I.  E.  Emerson,  Hon.  Wm.  Carter  Page, 
Hon.  Charles  T.  Crane,  George  C.  Jenkins,  C.  Wilbur 
Miller,  Howell  B.  Griswold,  Jr.,  George  May,  Edwin 
J.  Farber,  Maurice  H.  Grape,  Col.  Washington 
Bowie,  Jr.,  and  Robert  Garrett. 

Announcement  was  made  by  General  Alexander 
Brown  that  fifty  thousand  volunteers  from  Balti 
more  and  the  vicinity  had  already  joined  the  colours 
and  were  in  mobilisation  camps  at  Halethrope  and 
Pimlico  and  at  the  Glen  Burnie  rifle  range.  Also 
that  the  Bessemer  Steel  Company  of  Baltimore,  the 
Maryland  Steel  Company,  the  great  cotton  mills 
and  canneries,  were  working  night  and  day,  turning 
out  shrapnel,  shell  casings,  uniforms,  belts,  band 
ages  and  other  munitions  of  war,  all  to  be  fur 
nished  without  a  cent  of  profit.  Furthermore,  the 
banks  and  trust  companies  of  Baltimore  had  raised 
fifty  million  dollars  for  immediate  needs  of  the  de 
fence  with  more  to  come. 

"That's  the  kind  of  indemnity  Baltimore  offers  to 
the  Germans,"  cried  General  Brown. 

191 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Speeches  attacking  the  plan  of  campaign  and  the 
competency  of  military  leaders  were  made  by 
Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  Leigh  Bonsai  and  Henry  W. 
Williams,  but  their  words  availed  nothing  against 
the  prevailing  wild  enthusiasm. 

"Baltimore  has  never  been  taken  by  an  enemy," 
shouted  ex-Governor  Goldsborough,  "and  she  will 
not  be  taken  now,  Our  army  is  massed  and  en 
trenched  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Susquehanna 
and,  mark  my  words,  the  Germans  will  never  pass 
that  line." 

As  these  patriotic  words  rang  out  the  thousand 
white-clad  singers  rose  and  lifted  their  voices  in 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  dearest  of  patriotic 
hymns  in  Baltimore  because  it  was  a  Baltimore  man, 
Francis  Scott  Key,  who  wrote  it. 

While  the  great  meeting  was  still  in  session,  a 
large  German  airship  appeared  over  Baltimore'^ 
lower  basin  and,  circling  slowly  at  the  height  of 
half  a  mile,  proceeded  to  carry  out  its  mission  of 
frightfulness  against  the  helpless  city.  More  than 
fifty  bombs  were  dropped  that  night  with  terrific 
explosions.  The  noble  shaft  of  the  Washington 
Monument  was  shattered.  The  City  Hall  was  de 
stroyed,  also  the  Custom  House,  the  Richmond, 
Market,  the  Walters  Art  Gallery,  one  of  the  build 
ings  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  with  a  score 
of  killed  and  wounded,  and  the  cathedral  with  fifty 
killed  and  wounded. 

The  whole  country  was  stirred  to  its  depths  by 
192 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


this  outrage.  Angry  orators  appeared  at  every 
street  corner,  and  volunteers  stormed  the  enlisting 
offices.  Within  twenty-four  hours  the  business  men 
of  Baltimore  raised  another  hundred  millions  for 
the  city's  defence.  Baltimore,  never  conquered  yet, 
was  going  to  fight  harder  than  ever. 

The  great  question  now  was  how  soon  the  Ger 
mans  would  begin  their  drive.  We  knew  that  the 
Virginia  expedition  under  General  von  Mackensen 
had  advanced  up  the  peninsula  and  had  taken  Rich 
mond,  but  every  day  our  aeroplane  scouts  reported 
General  von  Hindenburg's  forces  as  still  stationary 
south  of  Philadelphia.  Their  strategy  seemed  to  be 
one  of  waiting  until  the  two  armies  could  strike 
simultaneously  against  Washington  from  the  south 
east  and  against  Baltimore  from  the  northeast.  On 
the  ninth  of  October  this  moment  seemed  to  have 
arrived,  and  we  learned  that  von  Hindenburg,  with 
a  hundred  thousand  men,  was  advancing  towards  the 
Susquehanna  in  a  line  that  would  take  him  straight 
to  the  Maryland  metropolis.  A  two  days'  march 
beyond  the  river  would  give  the  enemy  sight  of  the 
towers  of  Baltimore,  and  how  the  city  had  the  slight 
est  chance  of  successful  resistance  was  more  than  I 
could  understand. 

I  come  now  to  the  battle  of  the  Susquehanna, 
which  my  lucky  star  allowed  me  to  witness  in  spite 
of  positive  orders  that  war  correspondents  should 
not  approach  the  American  lines.  This  happened 

193 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

through  the  friendship  of  Vincent  Astor,  who  once 
more  volunteered  his  machine  and  his  own  services 
in  the  scouting  aeroplane  corps.  I  may  add  that  Mr. 
Astor  had  offered  his  entire  fortune,  if  needed,  to 
equip  the  nation  with  the  mightiest  air  force  in 
the  world;  and  that  already  four  thousand  craft 
of  various  types  were  in  process  of  construction. 
With  some  difficulty,  Mr.  Astor  obtained  permis 
sion  that  I  accompany  him  on  the  express  condition 
that  I  publish  no  word  touching  military  operations 
until  after  the  battle. 

On  the  morning  of  October  10th  we  made  our 
first  flight,  rising  from  the  aerodrome  in  Druid 
Hill  Park  and  speeding  to  the  northeast,  skirting 
the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Within  half  an  hour 
the  broad  Susquehanna,  with  its  wrecked  bridges, 
lay  before  us  and  to  the  left,  on  the  heights  of 
Port  Deposit,  we  made  out  the  American  artillery 
positions  with  the  main  army  encamped  below. 
Along  the  southern  bank  of  'the  river  we  saw  thou 
sands  of  American  soldiers  deepening  and  widening 
trenches  that  had  been  shallowed  out  by  a  score 
of  trench  digging  machines,  huge  locomotive 
ploughs  that  lumbered  along,  leaving  yellow 
ditches  behind  them.  There  were  miles  of  these 
ditches  cutting  through  farms  and  woods,  past 
windmills  and  red  barns  and  rolling  wheat  fields, 
stretching  away  to  the  northwest,  parallel  to  the 
river. 

194 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


"They've  done  a  lot  of  work  here,"  said  I,  im 
pressed  by  the  extent  of  these  operations. 

Astor  answered  with  a  smile  that  puzzled  me. 
"They  have  done  more  than  you  dream  of,  more 
than  any  one  dreams  of,"  he  said. 

"You  don't  imagine  these  trenches  are  going  to 
stop  the  Germans,  do  you?" 

He  nodded  slowly.    "Perhaps." 

"But  we  had  trenches  like  these  at  Trenton  and 
you  know  what  happened,"  I  objected. 

"I  know,  but "  again  that  mysterious  smile, 

"those  Trenton  trenches  were  not  exactly  like  these 
trenches.  Hello!  They're  signalling  to  us.  They 
want  to  know  who  we  are." 

In  reply  to  orders  wig-wagged  up  to  us  from 
headquarters  in  a  white  farmhouse,  we  flung  forth 
our  identification  streamers,  blue,  white  and  red  ar 
ranged  in  code  to  form  an  aerial  passport,  and  re 
ceived  a  wave  of  approval  in  reply. 

As  we  swung  to  the  northwest,  moving  parallel 
to  the  river  and  about  four  miles  back  of  it,  I  studied 
with  my  binoculars  the  trenches  that  stretched  along 
beneath  us  in  straight  lines  and  zigzags  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  see.  I  was  familiar  with  such  con 
structions,  having  studied  them  on  various  fields; 
here  was  the  firing  trench,  here  the  shelter  trench 
and  there  the  communicating  galleries  that  joined 
them,  but  what  were  those  groups  of  men  working 
so  busily  farther  down  the  line?  And  those  other 
groups  swarming  at  many  points  in  the  wide  area? 

195 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

They  were  not  digging  or  bracing  side-wall  timbers. 
What  were  they  doing? 

I  had  the  wheel  at  this  moment  and,  in  my  curi 
osity,  I  turned  the  machine  to  the  east,  forgetting 
Mr.  Astor's  admonition  that  we  were  not  allowed  to 
pass  the  rear  line  of  trenches. 

"Hold  on!  This  is  forbidden!"  he  cried.  "We'll 
get  in  trouble." 

Before  I  could  act  upon  his  warning,  there  came 
a  puff  of  white  smoke  from  one  of  the  batteries 
and  a  moment  later  a  shell,  bursting  about  two 
hundred  yards  in  front  of  us,  made  its  message 
clear. 

We  turned  at  once  and,  after  some  further  ma 
noeuvring,  sailed  back  to  Baltimore. 

We  dined  together  that  night  and  I  tried  to  get 
from  Mr.  Astor  a  key  to  the  mystery  that  evi 
dently  lay  behind  this  situation  at  the  Susquehanna. 
At  first  he  was  unwilling  to  speak,  but,  finally,  hi 
view  of  our  friendship  and  his  confidence  in  my  dis 
cretion,  he  gave  me  a  forecast  of  events  to  come. 

"You  mustn't  breathe  this  to  a  soul,"  he  said, 
"and,  of  course,  you  mustn't  write  a  word  of  it,  but 
the  fact  is,  dear  boy,  the  wonderful  fact  is  we're 
going  to  win  the  battle  of  the  Susquehanna." 

I  shook  my  head.  "I'd  give  all  I've  got  in  the 
world  to  have  that  true,  Mr.  Astor,  but  von  Hin- 
denburg  is  marching  against  us  with  150,000  men, 
first-class  fighting  men." 

"I  know,  and  we  have  only  60,000  men,  most  of 
196 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


them  raw  recruits.  Just  the  same,  von  Hindenburg 
hasn't  a  chance  on  earth."  He  paused  and  added 
quickly:  "Except  one." 

"One?" 

"If  the  enemy  suspected  the  trap  we  have  set  for 
them,  they  could  avoid  it,  but  they  won't  suspect 
it.  It's  absolutely  new." 

"How  about  their  aeroplane  scouts?  Won't  they 
see  the  trap?" 

"They  can't  see  it,  at  least  not  enough  to  under 
stand  it.  General  Wood  turned  us  back  this  after 
noon  as  a  precaution,  but  it  wasn't  necessary.  You 
might  have  circled  over  those  trenches  for  hours 
and  I  don't  believe  you  would  have  known  what's 
going  on  there.  Besides,  the  work  will  be  finished 
and  everything  hidden  in  a  couple  of  days." 

I  spurred  my  imagination,  searching  for  agencies 
of  destruction,  and  mentioned  hidden  mines,  power 
ful  electric  currents,  deadly  gases,  but  Astor  shook 
his  head. 

"It's  worse  than  that,  much  worse.  And  it  isn't 
one  of  those  fantastic  things  from  Mars  that  H. 
G.  Wells  would  put  in  a  novel.  This  will  work. 
It's  a  practical,  businesslike  way  of  destroying  an 
army." 

"What?    An  entire  army?" 

"Yes.  There's  an  area  on  this  side  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna  about  five  miles  square  that  is  ready  for 
the  Germans — plenty  of  room  for  a  hundred  thou- 

197 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

sand  of  them — and,  believe  me,  not  one  man  in  ten 
will  get  out  of  that  area  alive." 

I  stared  incredulously  as  my  friend  went  on  with 
increasing  positiveness:  "I  know  what  I'm  saying. 
I'll  tell  you  how  I  know  it  in  a  minute.  This  thing 
has  never  been  done  before  in  the  whole  history 
of  war  and  it  will  never  be  done  again,  but  it's 
going  to  be  done  now." 

"Why  will  it  never  be  done  again?" 

"Because  the  conditions  will  never  be  right  again. 
Armies  will  be  suspicious  after  one  has  been  wiped 
out,  but  the  first  time  it's  possible." 

"How  can  you  be  sure  von  Hindenburg's  army  will 
cross  the  Susquehanna  at  the  exact  place  where 
you  want  it  to  cross?" 

"They  will  cross  at  the  clearly  indicated  place 
for  crossing,  won't  they?  That's  where  we  have  set 
our  trap,  five  miles  wide,  on  the  direct  line  between 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore.  They  can't  cross  lower 
down  because  the  river  swells  into  Chesapeake  Bay, 
and  if  they  cross  higher  up  they  simply  go  out  of 
their  way.  Why  should  they?  They're  not  afraid 
to  meet  Leonard  Wood's  little  army,  are  they? 
They'll  come  straight  across  the  river  and  then — 
good-night." 

This  was  as  near  as  I  could  get  to  an  under 
standing  of  the  mystery.  Astor  would  tell  me  no 
more,  although  he  knew  I  would  die  rather  than 
betray  the  secret. 

"You  might  talk  in  your  sleep,"  he  laughed.  "I 
198 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


wish  I  didn't  know  the  thing  myself.  It's  like  go 
ing  around  with  a  million  dollars  hi  your  pocket." 
Then  he  added  earnestly:  "There  are  a  lot  of 
American  cranks  and  members  of  Bryan's  peace 
party  who  wouldn't  stand  for  this  if  they  knew  it." 

"You  mean  they  would  tell  the  Germans?" 

"They  would  tell  everybody.  They'd  call  it  bar 
barous,  wicked.  Perhaps  it  is,  but — we're  fighting 
for  our  lives,  aren't  we?  For  our  country?" 

"Sure  we  are,"  I  agreed. 

Later  on^  Mr.  Astor  told  me  how  he  had  come 
into  possession  of  this  extraordinary  military  knowl 
edge.  He  was  one  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one. 

The  next  day  we  flew  out  again  to  the  battle 
front,  taking  care  not  to  advance  over  the  proscribed 
area,  and  we  scanned  the  northern  banks  of  the 
Susquehanna  for  signs  of  the  enemy,  but  saw  none. 
On  the  second  day  we  had  the  same  experience, 
but  on  the  third  day,  towards  evening,  three  Taubes 
approached  swiftly  at  a  great  height  and  hovered 
over  our  lines,  taking  observations,  and  an  hour 
later  we  made  out  a  body  of  German  cavalry  on 
the  distant  hills. 

"An  advance  guard  of  Saxons  and  Westphalians," 
said  I,  studying  their  flashing  helmets.  "There  will 
be  something  doing  to-morrow." 

There  was.  The  battle  of  the  Susquehanna  be 
gan  at  daybreak,  October  14th,  1921,  with  an  ar 
tillery  duel  which  grew  in  violence  as  the  batteries 
on  either  side  of  the  river  found  the  ranges.  Aero- 

199 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

planes  skirmished  for  positions  over  the  opposing 
armies  and  dropped  revealing  smoke  columns  as 
guides  to  the  gunners.  Hour  after  hour  the  Ger 
mans  poured  a  terrific  fire  of  shells  and  shrapnel 
upon  the  American  trenches  and  I  wondered  if  they 
would  not  destroy  or  disarrange  our  trap,  but  As- 
tor  said  they  would  not. 

Our  inadequate  artillery  replied  as  vigorously  as 
possible  and  was  supported  by  the  old  U.  S.  battle 
ship  Montgomery,  manned  by  the  Baltimore  naval 
brigade  under  Commander  Ralph  Robinson,  which 
lay  two  miles  down  the  river  and  dropped  twelve- 
inch  shells  within  the  enemy's  lines.  Valuable  serv 
ice  was  also  rendered  by  heavy  mobile  field  artil 
lery  improvised  by  placing  heavy  coast  defence  mor 
tars  on  strongly  reinforced  railroad  trucks.  None 
of  this,  however,  prevented  the  Germans  from  forc 
ing  through  their  work  of  pontoon  building,  which 
had  been  started  in  the  night.  Five  lines  of  pon 
toons  were  thrown  across  the  Susquehanna  in  two 
days,  and  very  early  on  the  morning  of  October 
14th,  the  crossing  of  troops  began. 

All  day  from  our  aeroplane,  circling  at  a  height 
of  a  mile  or  rising  to  two  miles  in  case  of  danger, 
we  looked  down  on  fierce  fighting  in  the  trenches 
and  saw  the  Germans  drive  steadily  forward,  sweep 
ing  ahead  in  close  formation,  mindless  of  heavy 
losses  and  victorious  by  reason  of  overwhelming 
numbers. 

By  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  had  dis- 
200 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


lodged  the  Americans  from  their  first  lines  of  en 
trenchment  and  forced  them  to  retreat  in  good  or 
der  to  reserve  lines  five  miles  back  of  the  river. 
Between  these  front  lines  and  the  reserve  lines  there 
was  a  stretch  of  rolling  farm  land  lined  and  zigzagged 
with  three-foot  ditches  used  for  shelter  by  our  troops 
as  they  fell  back. 

By  six  o'clock  that  evening  the  German  army 
had  occupied  this  entire  area  and  by  half-past  seven, 
in  the  glory  of  a  gorgeous  crimson  sunset,  we  saw 
the  invaders  capture  our  last  lines  of  trenches  and 
drive  back  the  Americans  in  full  retreat,  leaving  the 
ground  strewn  with  their  own  dead  and  wounded. 

"Now  you'll  see  something,"  cried  Astor  with 
tightening  lips  as  he  scanned  the  battlefield.  "It 
may  come  at  any  moment.  We've  got  them  where 
we  want  them.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  them ! 
Their  whole  army!" 

He  pointed  to  the  pontoon  bridges  where  the 
last  companies  of  the  German  host  were  crossing. 
On  the  heights  beyond,  their  artillery  fire  was  slack 
ening;  and  on  our  side  the  American  fire  had  ceased. 
Night  was  falling  and  the  Germans  were  evidently 
planning  to  encamp  where  they  were. 

"There  are  a  few  thousand  over  there  with  the 
artillery  who  haven't  crossed  yet,"  said  I.  "The 
Crown  Prince  must  be  there  with  his  generals." 

My  friend  nodded  grimly.  "We'll  attend  to  them 
later.  Ah!  Now  look!  It's  coming!" 

I  turned  and  saw  a  thick  wall  of  grey  and  black 

201 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

smoke  rolling  in  dense  billows  over  a  section  of  the 
rear  trenches,  and  out  of  this  leaped  tongues  of 
blue  fire  and  red  fire.  And  farther  down  the  lines 
I  saw  similar  sections  of  smoke  and  flame  with  open 
spaces  between,  but  these  spaces  closed  up  swiftly 
until  presently  the  fire  wall  was  continuous  over 
the  whole  extent  of  the  rear  trenches. 

We  could  see  German  soldiers  by  hundreds  rush 
ing  back  from  this  peril;  but,  as  they  ran,  fires 
started  at  dozens  of  points  before  them  in  the  net 
work  of  ditches  and,  spreading  with  incredible  ra 
pidity,  formed  flaming  barriers  that  shut  off  the 
ways  of  escape.  Within  a  few  minutes  the  whole 
area  beneath  us,  miles  in  length  and  width,  that 
had  been  occupied  by  the  victorious  German  army, 
was  like  a  great  gridiron  of  fire  or  like  a  city  with 
streets  and  avenues  and  broad  diagonals  of  fire. 
All  the  trenches  and  ditches  suddenly  belched  forth 
waves  of  black  smoke  with  blue  and  red  flames 
darting  through  them,  and  fiercest  of  all  burned 
the  fire  walls  close  to  the  river  bank. 

"Good  God!"  I  cried,  astounded  at  this  vast  con 
flagration.  "What  is  it  that's  burning?" 

"Oil,"  said  Astor.  "The  whole  supply  from  the 
Standard  Oil  pipe  lines  diverted  here,  millions  and 
millions  of  gallons.  It's  driven  by  big  pumps 
through  mains  and  pipes  and  reservoirs,  buried 
deep.  It's  spurting  from  a  hundred  outlets.  Noth 
ing  can  put  it  out.  Look!  The  river  is  on  fire!" 

I  did  look,  but  I  will  not  tell  what  I  saw  nor  de- 
202 


BATTLE  OF  SUSQUEHANNA 


scribe  the  horrors  of  the  ensuing  hour.  By  nine 
o'clock  it  was  all  over.  The  last  word  in  frightful- 
ness  had  been  spoken  and  the  despoilers  of  Belgium 
were  the  victims. 

I  learned  later  that  the  pipes  which  carried  these 
floods  of  oil  carried  also  considerable  quantities  of 
arseniuretted  hydrogen.  The  blue  flames  that  Mr. 
Astor  and  I  noticed  came  from  the  fierce  burning 
of  this  arseniuretted  hydrogen  as  it  hissed  from 
oil  vents  in  the  trenches  under  the  drive  of  power 
ful  pumps. 

Thousands  of  those  that  escaped  from  the  fire 
area  and  tried  to  cross  back  on  the  pontoons  were 
caught  and  destroyed,  amidstream,  by  fire  floods 
that  roared  down  the  oil-spread  Susquehanna.  And 
about  7,000  that  escaped  at  the  sides  were  made 
prisoners. 

It  was  announced  in  subsequent  estimates  and 
not  denied  by  the  Germans  that  113,000  of  the  in 
vaders  lost  their  lives  here.  To  all  intents  and 
purposes  von  Hindenburg's  army  had  ceased  to 
exist. 


203 


CHAPTER  XIX 

GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES  ANOTHER  BRILLIANT  SUCCESS 
AGAINST    THE    CROWN    PRINCE 

ON  the  evening  of  October  14,  1921,  Field  Mar 
shal  von  Kluck  awaited  final  news  of  the  battle  of 
the  Susquehanna  while  enjoying  an  excellent  meal 
with  his  staff  in  the  carved  and  gilded  dining-room 
of  the  old  S.  B.  Chittenden  mansion  on  Brooklyn 
Heights,  headquarters  of  the  army  of  occupation. 
All  the  earlier  despatches  through  the  afternoon 
had  been  favourable  and,  as  the  company  finished 
their  Kartoffelsuppe,  von  Kluck  had  risen,  amidst 
hochs  of  applause,  and  read  a  telegram  from  his  Im 
perial  master,  the  Crown  Prince,  who,  with  Field 
Marshal  von  Hindenburg,  was  directing  the  battle 
from  Perryville  on  the  Northern  bank,  announcing 
that  the  German  army  had  crossed  the  river  and 
driven  back  Leonard  Wood's  forces  for  five  miles 
and  occupied  a  vast  network  of  American  trenches. 

The  officers  lingered  over  their  preisselbeeren 
compote  and  kaffeekuchen  and,  presently,  the  com 
mander  rose  again,  holding  a  telegram  just  delivered 
by  a  red-faced  lieutenant  whose  cheek  was  slashed 
with  scars. 

204 


GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES 


"Comrades,  the  great  moment  has  come — I  feel 
it.  Our  victory  at  the  Susquehanna  means  the  end 
of  American  resistance,  the  capture  of  Baltimore, 
Washington  and  the  whole  Atlantic  seaboard.  Let 
us  drink  to  the  Fatherland  and  our  place  in  the 
sun." 

Up  on  their  feet  came  the  fire-eating  company, 
with  lifted  glasses  and  the  gleam  of  conquerors  in 
their  eyes. 

"Hoch!  Hoch!"  they  cried  and  waited,  fiercely 
joyful,  while  von  Kluck  opened  the  despatch.  His 
shaggy  brows  contracted  ominously  as  he  scanned 
two  yellow  sheets  crowded  with  closely  written  Ger 
man  script. 

"Gott  in  Himmel!"  he  shouted,  and  threw  the 
telegram  on  the  table. 

The  blow  had  fallen,  the  incredible  truth  was 
there  before  them.  Not  only  had  the  redoubtable 
von  Hindenburg,  idol  of  a  nation,  hero  of  countless 
Russian  victories,  suffered  crushing  defeat,  but  his 
proud  battalions  had  been  almost  annihilated.  In 
the  whole  history  of  warfare  there  had  never  been 
so  complete  a  disaster  to  so  powerful  an  army. 

"Burned  to  death!  Our  brave  soldiers!  Was 
there  ever  so  barbarous  a  crime?"  raved  the  Field 
Marshal.  "But  the  American  people  will  pay  for 
this,  yes,  ten  times  over.  We  still  have  two  armies 
on  their  soil  and  a  fleet  ready  to  transport  from 
Germany  another  army  of  half  a  million.  We  hold 
their  greatest  cities,  their  leading  citizens  at  our 

205 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

mercy,  and  they  shall  have  none.    Burned  in  oil! 
Mein  Gott!    We  will  show  them." 

"Excellency,"  questioned  the  others  anxiously, 
"what  of  his  Imperial  Highness  the  Crown  Prince?" 

"Safe,  thank  God,  and  von  Hindenburg  is  safe. 
They  did  not  cross  the  cursed  river.  They  stayed 
on  the  Northern  bank  with  the  artillery  and  three 
thousand  men." 

I  learned  later  that  these  three  thousand  of  the 
German  rear  guard,  together  with  seven  thousand 
that  escaped  from  the  fire  zone  and  were  made  pris 
oners,  were  all  that  remained  alive  of  the  120,- 
000  Germans  that  had  crossed  the  Susquehanna  that 
fatal  morning  with  flying  eagles. 

Orders  were  immediately  given  by  von  Kluck  that 
retaliatory  steps  be  taken  to  strike  terror  into  the 
hearts  of  the  American  people,  and  the  wires 
throughout  New  England  were  kept  humming  that 
night  with  instructions  to  the  commanding  officers 
of  German  forces  of  occupation  in  Boston,  Hart 
ford,  New  Haven,  Portland,  Springfield,  Worcester, 
Newport,  Fall  River,  Stamford;  also  in  Newark, 
Jersey  City,  Trenton  and  Philadelphia,  calling  upon 
them  to  issue  proclamations  that,  in  punishment  of 
an  act  of  barbarous  massacre  committed  by  Gen 
eral  Wood  and  the  American  army,  it  was  hereby 
ordered  that  one-half  of  the  hostages  previously 
taken  by  the  Germans  in  each  of  these  cities  (the 
same  to  be  chosen  by  lot)  should  be  led  forth  at 
noon  on  October  15th  and  publicly  executed. 
206 


GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES 


At  half-past  eleven,  October  15th,  on  the  Yale 
University  campus,  there  was  a  scene  of  excitement 
beyond  words,  although  dumb  in  its  tragic  expres 
sion,  when  William  Howard  Taft,  who  was  one  of 
the  hostages  drawn  for  execution,  finished  his  fare 
well  address  to  the  students. 

"I  call  on  you,  my  dear  friends,"  he  cried  with 
an  inspired  light  in  his  eyes,  "to  follow  the  ex 
ample  of  our  glorious  ancestors,  to  put  aside  self 
ishness  and  all  base  motives  and  rise  to  your  su 
preme  duty  as  American  citizens.  Defend  this  dear 
land!  Save  this  nation!  And,  if  it  be  necessary 
to  die,  let  us  die  gladly  for  our  country  and  our 
children,  as  those  great  patriots  who  fought  under 
Washington  and  Lincoln  were  glad  to  die  for  us." 

With  a  noble  gesture  he  turned  to  the  guard  of 
waiting  German  soldiers.  He  was  ready. 

Deeply  moved,  but  helpless,  the  great  audience 
of  students  and  professors  waited  in  a  silence  of 
rage  and  shame.  They  would  fain  have  hurled 
themselves,  unarmed,  upon  the  gleaming  line  of 
soldiers  that  walled  the  quadrangle,  but  what  would 
that  have  availed? 

A  Prussian  colonel  of  infantry,  with  many  deco 
rations  on  his  breast,  stepped  to  the  edge  of  the 
platform,  glanced  at  his  wrist-watch  and  said  in 
a  high-pitched  voice:  "Gentlemen  of  the  Univer 
sity,  I  trust  you  have  carefully  read  the  proclama 
tion  of  Field  Marshal  von  Kluck.  Be  sure  that  any 
disorder  during  the  execution  of  hostages  that  is 

207 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

now  to  take  place  will  bring  swift  and  terrible  pun 
ishment  upon  the  city  and  citizens  of  New  Haven. 
Gentlemen,  I  salute  you." 

He  turned  to  the  guard  of  soldiers.    "Gehen!" 

"Fertig!  Hup!"  cried  a  stocky  little  Bavarian 
sergeant,  and  the  grim  procession  started. 

At  the  four  corners  of  the  public  green  were  com> 
panics  of  German  soldiers  with  machine-guns 
trained  upon  dense  crowds  of  citizens  who  had  gath 
ered  for  this  gruesome  ceremony,  high-spirited  New 
Englanders  whose  faith  and  courage  were  now  to 
be  crushed  out  of  them,  according  to  von  Kluck, 
by  this  stern  example. 

Down  Chapel  Street  with  muffled  drums  came 
the  unflinching  group  of  American  patriots,  march 
ing  between  double  lines  of  cavalry  and  led  by  a 
military  band.  At  Osborn  Hall  they  turned  to  the 
right  and  moved  slowly  along  College  Street  to 
the  Battell  Chapel,  where  they  turned  again  and 
advanced  diagonally  across  the  green,  the  band 
playing  Beethoven's  funeral  march. 

In  the  centre  of  the  dense  throng,  at  a  point 
between  Trinity  Church  and  the  old  Centre  Church, 
a  firing  squad  of  bearded  Westphalians  was  making 
ready  for  the  last  swift  act  of  vengeance,  when, 
suddenly,  hi  the  direction  of  Elm  Street  near  the 
Graduates'  Club,  there  came  a  tumult  of  shouts  and 
voices  with  a  violent  pushing  and  struggling  in  the 
crowd.  A  messenger  on  a  motorcycle  was  trying 
to  force  his  way  to  the  commanding  officer. 
208 


GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES 


"Stop!  Stop!"  he  shouted.  "I've  got  a  tele 
gram  for  the  general.  Let  me  through!  I  will  get 
through!" 

And  at  last,  torn  and  breathless,  the  lad  did  get 
through  and  delivered  his  message.  It  was  a  tele 
gram  from  Field  Marshal  von  Kluck,  which  read: 

"Have  just  received  a  despatch  from  General 
Leonard  Wood,  stating  that  his  Imperial  Highness 
the  Crown  Prince  and  Field  Marshal  von  Hinden- 
burg,  with  their  military  staffs,  have  been  made  pris 
oners  by  an  American  army  north  of  the  Susque- 
hanna,  and  giving  warning  that  if  retaliatory  meas 
ures  are  taken  against  American  citizens,  his  Im 
perial  Highness  will,  within  twenty-four  hours,  be 
stood  up  before  the  statue  of  his  Imperial  ancestor 
Frederick  the  Great,  in  the  War  College  at  Washing 
ton,  and  shot  to  death  by  a  firing  squad  from  the 
Pennsylvania  National  Guard.  In  consequence  of 
this  I  hereby  countermand  all  previous  orders  for  the 
execution  of  American  hostages. 

"(Signed)    VON  KLUCK." 

Like  lightning  this  wonderful  news  spread 
through  the  crowd,  and  hi  the  delirious  joy  that  fol 
lowed  there  was  much  disorder  which  the  Germans 
scarcely  tried  to  suppress.  They  were  stunned  by 
the  catastrophe.  The  Crown  Prince  a  prisoner! 
Von  Hindenburg  a  prisoner!  By  what  miracle  of 
strategy  had  General  Wood  achieved  thia  brilliant 
coup? 

900 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Here  were  the  facts,  as  I  subsequently  learned. 
So  confident  of  complete  success  was  the  American 
commander,  that  by  twelve  o'clock  on  the  day  of 
battle  he  had  diverted  half  of  his  forces,  about  30,- 
000  men,  in  a  rapid  movement  to  the  north,  his 
purpose  being  to  cross  the  Susquehanna  higher  up 
and  envelop  the  rear  guard  of  the  enemy,  with  their 
artillery  and  commanding  generals,  in  an  over 
whelming  night  attack.  Hour  after  hour  through 
the  night  of  October  14th  a  flotilla  of  ferry-boats, 
cargo-boats,  tugs,  lighters,  river  craft  of  all  sorts, 
assembled  days  before,  had  ferried  the  American 
army  across  the  Susquehanna  as  George  Washing 
ton  ferried  his  army  across  the  Delaware  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before. 

All  night  the  Americans  pressed  forward  in  a 
forced  march,  and  by  daybreak  the  Crown  Prince 
and  his  3,000  men  were  caught  beyond  hope  of  res 
cue,  hemmed  in  between  the  Susquehanna  River 
and  the  projecting  arms  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  The 
surprise  was  complete,  the  disaster  irretrievable, 
and  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  October 
15th  the  heir  to  the  German  throne  and  six  of  his 
generals,  including  Field  Marshal  von  Hinden- 
burg,  surrendered  to  the  Americans  the  last  of  their 
forces  with  all  their  flags  and  artillery  and  an  im 
mense  quantity  of  supplies  and  ammunition. 

By  General  Wood's  orders  the  mass  of  German 
prisoners  were  moved  to  concentration  camps  at 
Gettysburg,  but  the  Crown  Prince  was  taken  to 
210 


"YOU     KNOW,     MAKK     TWAIN      WAS     A     GREAT     FBI  GNU 

OF  MY  FATHER'S,"   SAID   THF.  CBOWN  PRINCE,     "i 

REMEMBER  HOW  MY  FATHER  LAUGHED,  ONE  EVENING 
AT  THE  PALACE  IN  BERLIN,  WHEN  MARK  TWAIN 
TOLD  US  THE  STORY  OF  'THE  JUMPING  FROG.'" 


GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES 


Washington,  where  he  and  his  staff  were  confined 
with  suitable  honours  in  the  Hotel  Bellevue,  taken 
over  by  the  government  for  this  purpose.  Here, 
during  the  subsequent  fortnight,  I  had  the  honour 
of  seeing  the  illustrious  prisoner  on  several  occa 
sions.  It  seems  that  he  remembered  me  pleasantly 
from  the  New  England  campaign  and  was  glad  to 
call  upon  my  knowledge  of  American  men  and  af 
fairs  for  his  own  information. 

As  to  von  Hindenburg's  defeat  (leaving  aside  the 
question  of  military  ethics  which  he  denounced 
scathingly)  the  Crown  Prince  said  this  had  been 
accomplished  by  a  mere  accident  that  could  never 
occur  again  and  that  could  not  interfere  with  Ger 
many's  ultimate  conquest  of  America. 

"This  will  be  a  short-lived  triumph,"  declared 
His  Imperial  Highness,  when  he  received  me  in  his 
quarters  at  the  Bellevue,  "and  the  American  peo 
ple  will  pay  dearly  for  it.  The  world  stands  aghast 
at  the  horror  of  this  barbarous  act." 

"America  is  fighting  for  her  existence,"  said  I. 

"Let  her  fight  with  the  methods  of  civilised  war 
fare.  Germany  would  scorn  to  gain  an  advantage 
at  the  expense  of  her  national  honour." 

"If  Your  Imperial  Highness  will  allow  me  to 

speak  of  Belgium  in  1914 "  I  began,  but  he  cut 

me  short  with  an  impatient  gesture. 

"Our  course  in  Belgium  was  justified  by  special 
reasons — that  is  the  calm  verdict  of  history." 

I  refrained  from  arguing  this  point  and  was  pa- 

211 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

tient  while  the  prince  turned  the  conversation  on 
his  favourite  theme,  the  inferiority  of  a  democratic 
to  an  autocratic  form  of  government. 

"I  have  been  studying  the  lives  of  your  presi 
dents,"  he  said,  "and — really,  how  can  one  expect 
them  to  get  good  results  with  no  training  for  their 
work  and  only  a  few  years  in  office?  Take  men 
like  Johnson,  Tyler,  Polk,  Hayes,  Buchanan,  Pierce, 
Filmore,  Harrison,  McKinley.  Mediocre  figures, 
are  they  not?  What  do  they  stand  for?" 

"What  does  the  average  king  or  emperor  stand 
for?"  I  ventured,  whereupon  His  Imperial  High 
ness  pointed  proudly  to  the  line  of  Hohenzollern 
rulers,  and  I  had  to  admit  that  these  were  excep 
tional  men. 

"The  big  men  of  America  go  into  commercial  and 
industrial  pursuits  rather  than  into  politics,"  I  ex 
plained. 

"Exactly,"  agreed  the  prince,  "and  the  republic 
loses  their  services." 

"No,  the  republic  benefits  by  the  general  pros 
perity  which  they  build  up,"  I  insisted. 

With  this  the  Imperial  prisoner  discussed  the 
American  Committee  of  Twenty-one  and  I  was  as 
tonished  to  find  what  full  knowledge  he  had  touch 
ing  their  individual  lives  and  achievements.  He 
even  knew  the  details  of  Asa  G.  Candler's  soda 
water  activities.  And  he  told  me  several  amusing 
stories  of  Edison's  boyhood. 

"By  the  way,"  he  said  abruptly,  "I  suppose  you 
212 


GENERAL  WOOD  SCORES 


know  that  Thomas  A.  Edison  is  a  prisoner  in  our 
hands?" 

"So  we  concluded,"  said  I.  "Also  Lemuel  A.  Wid- 
ding." 

"Also  Lemuel  A.  Widding,"  the  prince  admitted. 
"You  know  why  we  took  them  prisoners?  It  was 
on  account  of  Widding's  invention.  He  thinks  he 
has  found  a  way  to  destroy  our  fleet  and  we  do  not 
want  our  fleet  destroyed." 

"Naturally  not." 

"You  had  a  talk  with  Edison  on  the  train  last 
week.  He  knows  all  the  details  of  Widding's  in 
vention?" 

"Yes." 

"And  he  believes  it  will  do  what  the  inventor 
claims?  He  believes  it  will  destroy  our  fleet?  Did 
he  tell  you  that?" 

"He  certainly  did.  He  said  he  wouldn't  give  five 
cents  for  the  German  fleet  after  Widding's  plan 
is  put 'in  to  operation." 

"Ah!"  reflected  the  Crown  Prince. 

"Would  Your  Imperial  Highness  allow  me  to  ask 
a  question?"  I  ventured. 

His  eyes  met  mine  frankly.  "Why,  yes — cer 
tainly." 

"I  have  no  authority  to  ask  this,  but  I  suppose 
there  might  be  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  Edison 
and  Widding  are  important  to  America  and " 

"You  mean  they  might  be  exchanged  for  me?" 
his  face  grew  stern.  "I  would  not  hear  of  it.  Those 

213 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

two  Americans  alone  have  the  secret  of  this  Wid- 
ding  invention,  I  am  sure  of  that,  and  it  is  better 
for  the  Fatherland  to  get  along  without  a  Crown 
Prince  than  without  a  fleet.  No.  We  shall  keep 
Mr.  Edison  and  Mr.  Widding  prisoners." 

He  said  this  with  all  the  dignity  of  his  Hohen- 
zollern  ancestry;  then  he  rose  to  end  the  interview. 


214 


CHAPTER   XX 

THIRD     BATTLE     OF     BULL     RUN     WITH     AEROPLANES 
CARRYING    LIQUID     CHLORINE 

I  NOW  come  to  those  memorable  weeks  of  No 
vember,  1921,  which  rank  among  the  most  impor 
tant  in  American  history.  There  was  first  the  bat 
tle  that  had  been  preparing  south  of  the  Potomac 
between  von  Mackensen's  advancing  battalions  and 
General  Wood's  valiant  little  army.  This  might  be 
called  the  third  battle  of  Bull  Run,  since  it  was 
fought  near  Manassas  where  Beauregard  and  Lee 
won  their  famous  victories. 

Although  General  Wood's  forces  numbered  only 
60,000  men,  more  than  half  of  them  militia,  and 
although  they  were  matched  against  an  army  of 
150,000  Germans,  the  American  commander  had 
two  points  of  advantage,  his  ten  miles  of  entrench 
ments  stretching  from  Remington  to  Warrenton 
along  the  steep  slopes  of  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains, 
and  his  untried  but  formidable  preparations  for 
dropping  liquid  chlorine  from  a  fleet  of  aeroplanes 
upon  an  attacking  army. 

In  order  to  reach  Washington  the  Germans  must 
traverse  the  neck  of  land  that  lies  between  the 

215 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

mountains  and  the  Potomac's  broad  arms.  Here 
clouds  of  greenish  death  from  heaven  might  or 
might  not  overwhelm  them.  That  was  the  ques 
tion  to  be  settled.  It  was  a  new  experiment  in  war 
fare. 

I  should  explain  that  during  previous  months, 
thanks  to  the  efficiency  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty- 
one,  great  quantities  of  liquid  chlorine  had  been 
manufactured  at  Niagara  Falls,  where  the  Niagara 
Alkali  Company,  the  National  Electrolytic  Com 
pany,  the  Oldburg  Electro-Chemical  Company,  the 
Castner  Electrolytic  Alkali  Company,  the  Hooker 
Electro-Chemical  Company  and  several  others, 
working  night  and  day  and  using  60,000  horse 
power  from  the  Niagara  power  plants  and  immense 
quantities  of  salt  from  the  salt-beds  in  Western 
New  York,  had  been  able  to  produce  30,000  tons 
of  liquid  chlorine.  And  the  Lackawanna  Steel  Com 
pany  at  Buffalo,  in  its  immense  tube  plant,  finished 
in  1920,  had  turned  out  half  a  million  thin  steel 
containers,  torpedo-shaped,  each  holding  150 
pounds  of  the  deadly  liquid.  This  was  done  under 
the  supervision  of  a  committee  of  leading  chemists, 
including:  Milton  C.  Whitaker,  Arthur  D.  Little, 
Dr.  L.  H.  Baekeland,  Charles  F.  McKenna,  John  E. 
Temple  and  Dr.  Henry  Washington. 

And  a  fleet  of  military  aeroplanes  had  been  made 

ready  at  the  immense  Wright  and  Curtiss  factories 

on  Grand  Island  in  the  Niagara  River  and  at  the 

Packard,  Sturtevant,  Thomas  and  Gallaudet  fac- 

216 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


tories,  where  a  force  of  20,000  men  had  been  working 
night  and  day  for  weeks  under  government  super 
vision.  There  were  a  hundred  huge  tractors  with 
double  fuselage  and  a  wing  spread  of  200  feet,  driven 
by  four  500  horse-power  motors.  Each  one  of  these, 
besides  its  crew,  could  carry  three  tons  of  chlorine 
from  Grand  Island  to  Washington  (their  normal  rate 
of  flying  was  120  miles  an  hour)  in  three  hours 
against  a  moderate  wind. 

I  visited  aviation  centers  where  these  machines 
were  delivered  for  tests,  and  found  the  places  swarm 
ing  with  armies  of  men  training  and  inspecting  and 
testing  the  aeroplanes. 

Among  aviators  busy  at  this  work  were:  Charles 
F.  Willard,  J.  A.  D.  McCurdy,  Walter  R.  Brookins, 
Frank  T.  Coffyn,  Harry  N.  Atwood,  Oscar  Allen 
Brindley,  Leonard  Warren  Bonney,  Charles  C.  Wit- 
mer,  Harold  H.  Brown,  John  D.  Cooper,  Harold 
Kantner,  Clifford  L.  Webster,  John  H.  Worden, 
Anthony  Jannus,  Roy  Knabenshue,  Earl  S.  Dough 
erty,  J.  L.  Callan,  T.  T.  Maroney,  R.  E.  McMillen, 
Beckwith  Havens,  DeLloyd  Thompson,  Sidney  F. 
Beckwith,  George  A.  Gray,  Victor  Carlstrom,  Chaun- 
cey  M.  Vought,  W.  C.  Robinson,  Charles  F.  Niles, 
Frank  H.  Burnside,  Theodore  C.  Macaulay,  Art 
Smith,  Howard  M.  Rinehart,  Albert  Sigmund  Hein- 
rich,  P.  C.  Millman,  Robert  Fowler. 

In  the  balloon  training  camps,  I  noticed  some  old- 
time  balloonists,  including:  J.  C.  McCoy,  A.  Leo 
Stevens,  Frank  P.  Lahm,  Thomas  S.  Baldwin,  A. 

217 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Holland  Forbes,  Charles  J.  Glidden,  Charles  Walsh, 
Carl  G.  Fisher,  Wm.  F.  Whitehouse,  George  B.  Har 
rison,  Jay  B.  Benton,  J.  Walter  Flagg,  John  Watts, 
Roy  F.  Donaldson,  Ralph  H.  Upson,  R.  A.  D.  Pres 
ton  and  Warren  Rasor. 

Five  days  before  the  battle  the  hundred  great 
carriers  began  delivering  their  deadly  loads  on  the 
heights  of  Arlington,  south  of  the  Potomac,  each 
aeroplane  making  three  trips  from  Niagara  Falls 
every  twenty-four  hours,  which  meant  that  on  the 
morning  of  November  5,  1921,  when  the  German 
legions  came  within  range  of  Leonard  Wood's  field 
artillery,  there  were  5,000  tons  of  liquid  chlorine 
ready  to  be  hurled  down  from  the  aerial  fleet.  And 
it  was  estimated  that  the  carriers  would  continue  to 
deliver  a  thousand  tons  a  day  from  Grand  Island 
as  long  as  the  deadly  stuff  was  needed. 

The  actual  work  of  dropping  these  chlorine  bombs 
upon  the  enemy  was  entrusted  to  another  fleet  of 
smaller  aeroplanes  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  most  of  them  belonging  to  members  of  the 
Aero  Club  of  America  who  not  only  gave  their  ma 
chines  but,  in  many  cases,  offered  their  services  as 
pilots  or  gunners  for  the  impending  air  battle. 

"What  is  the  prospect?"  I  asked  Henry  Wood- 
house,  chief  organiser  of  these  aeroplane  forces,  on 
the  day  before  the  fight. 

He  was  white  and  worn  after  days  of  overwork, 
but  he  spoke  hopefully. 

"We  have  chlorine  enough,"  he  said,  "but  we  need 
218 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


more  attacking  aeroplanes.  We've  only  about  forty 
squadrons  with  twelve  aeroplanes  to  a  squadron 
and  most  of  our  pilots  have  never  worked  in  big 
air  manoeuvres.  It's  a  great  pity.  Ah,  look  there! 
If  they  were  all  like  Boiling's  squadron!" 

He  pointed  toward  the  heights  back  of  Remington 
where  a  dozen  bird  machines  were  sweeping  through 
the  sky  in  graceful  evolutions. 

"What  Boiling  is  that?" 

"Raynal  C. — the  chap  that  organised  the  first  avi 
ation  section  of  the  New  York  National  Guard. 
Ah!  See  those  boys  turn!  That's  Boiling  at  the 
head  of  the  'V/  with  James  E.  Miller,  George  von 
Utassy,  Fairman  Dick,  Jerome  Kingsbury,  William 
Boulding,  3rd,  and  Lorbert  Carolin.  They've  got 
Sturtevant  steel  battle  planes — given  by  Mrs.  Bliss — 
yes,  Mrs.  William  H.  Bliss.  She's  one  of  the  pa 
tron  saints  of  the  Aero  Club." 

We  strolled  among  the  hangars  and  Mr.  Wood- 
house  presented  me  to  several  aeroplane  squadron 
commanders,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Robert  Bacon, 
Godfrey  Lowell  Cabot,  Russell  A.  Alger,  Robert 
Glendinning,  George  Brokaw,  Clarke  Thomson, 
Cortlandt  F.  Bishop;  also  to  Rear  Admiral  Robert 
E.  Peary,  Archer  M.  Huntington,  J.  Stuart  Black- 
ton,  and  Albert  B.  Lambert,  who  had  just  come  in 
from  a  scouting  and  map-making  flight  over  the 
German  lines.  These  gentlemen  agreed  that  Amer 
ica's  chances  the  next  day  would  be  excellent  if  we 
only  had  more  attacking  aeroplanes,  about  twice  as 

219 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

many,  so  that  we  could  overwhelm  the  enemy  with 
a  rain  of  chlorine  shells. 

"I  believe  three  hundred  more  aeroplanes  would 
give  us  the  victory,"  declared  Alan  R.  Hawley,  ex- 
president  of  the  Aero  Club. 

"Think  of  it,"  mourned  August  Belmont.  "We 
could  have  had  a  thousand  aeroplanes  so  easily — 
two  thousand  for  the  price  of  one  battleship.  And 
now — to-morrow — three  hundred  aeroplanes  might 
save  this  nation." 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt  nodded  gloomily.  "The  lack 
of  three  hundred  aeroplanes  may  cost  us  the  At 
lantic  seaboard.  These  aeroplanes  would  be  worth 
a  million  dollars  apiece  to  us  and  we  can't  get  'em." 

"The  fifty  aeroplanes  of  the  Post  Office  are  mighty 
useful,"  observed  Ex-Postmaster-General  Frank  H. 
Hitchcock  to  Postmaster-General  Burleson. 

"It  isn't  the  fault  of  you  gentlemen,"  said  Emer 
son  McMillin,  "if  we  did  not  have  five  thousand 
aeroplanes  in  use  for  mail  carrying,  and  coast  guard 
and  life-saving  services." 

This  remark  was  appreciated  by  some  of  the  men 
in  the  group,  including  Alexander  Graham  Bell,  Ad 
miral  Peary,  Henry  A.  Wise  Wood,  Henry  Wood- 
house,  Albert  B.  Lambert,  and  Byron  R.  Newton, 
head  of  the  Coast  Guard  and  Life  Saving  Service. 
For  years  they  had  all  made  supreme  but  unavailing 
efforts  to  make  Congress  realize  the  value  of  an 
aeroplane  reserve  which  could  be  employed  every 
220 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


day  for  peaceful  purposes  and  would  be  available  in 
case  of  need. 

"Five  thousand  aeroplanes  could  have  been  put  in 
use  for  carrying  mail  and  express  matter  and  in  the 
Coast  Guard,"  said  Mr.  McMillin,  "and  with  them 
we  could  have  been  in  the  position  of  the  porcupine, 
which  goes  about  its  peaceful  pursuits,  harms  no  one, 
but  is  ever  ready  to  defend  itself.  Had  we  had  them 
in  use,  this  war  would  probably  never  have  taken 
place." 

A  little  later,  as  we  were  supping  in  a  farm 
house,  there  came  a  great  shouting  outside  and, 
rushing  to  doors  and  windows,  we  witnessed  a  mira 
cle,  if  ever  there  was  one.  There,  spread  across 
the  heavens  from  west  and  south,  sweeping  toward 
us,  in  proud  alignment,  squadron  by  squadron — 
there  was  the  answer  to  our  prayers,  a  great  body 
of  aeroplanes  waving  the  stars  and  stripes  in  the 
glory  of  the  setting  sun. 

"Who  are  they?  Where  do  they  come  from?" 
we  marvelled,  and,  presently,  as  the  sky  strangers 
came  to  earth  like  weary  birds,  a  great  cry  arose: 
"Santos  Dumont!  Santos  Dumont!" 

It  was  indeed  the  great  Santos,  the  famous  Bra 
zilian  sportsman,  and  president  of  the  Aeronautical 
Federation  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  who  had 
come  thus  opportunely  to  cast  his  fortunes  with 
tortured  America  and  fight  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  With  him  came  the  Peru 
vian  aviator,  Bielovucci,  first  to  fly  across  the  Alps 

221 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

(1914),  and  Senor  Anassagasti,  president  of  the 
Aero  Club  Argentine,  and  also  four  hundred  aero 
planes  with  picked  crews  from  all  parts  of  South 
America. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  that  evening  at  Gen 
eral  Wood's  headquarters  over  this  splendid  sup 
port  given  to  America  by  her  sister  republics. 

"It  looks  now  as  if  we  have  a  chance,"  said  Briga 
dier  General  Robert  K.  Evans.  "The  Germans  will 
attack  at  daybreak  and — by  the  way,  what's  the 
matter  with  our  wireless  reports?"  He  peered  out 
into  the  night  which  was  heavily  overcast — not  a 
star  in  sight.  He  was  looking  toward  the  radio 
station  a  mile  back  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  where 
the  lone  pine  tree  stood  that  supported  the  trans 
mission  wires. 

"Looks  like  rain,"  decided  the  general.  "Hello! 
What's  that?" 

Plainly  through  purplish  black  clouds  we  caught 
the  shrill  buzz  of  swift-moving  aeroplanes. 

"Good  lord!"  cried  Roy  D.  Chapin,  chief  inspec 
tor  of  aircraft.  "The  Germans!  I  know  their  en 
gine  sounds.  Searchlights!  Quick!" 

Alas!  Our  searchlights  proved  useless  against 
the  thick  haze  that  had  now  spread  about  us;  they 
only  revealed  distant  dim  shapes  that  shot  through 
the  darkness  and  were  gone. 

"We  must  go  after  those  fellows,"  muttered  Gen 
eral  Evans,  and  he  detailed  William  Thaw,  Norman 
Prince  and  Elliot  Cowdin,  veterans  of  many  sky 
222 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


battles  in  France  and  Belgium,  to  go  aloft  and 
challenge  the  intruders.    . 

This  incident  kept  the  camp  in  an  uproar  half 
the  night.  It  turned  out  that  the  strange  aero 
planes  had  indeed  been  sent  out  by  the  Germans, 
but  for  hours  we  did  not  discover  what  their  mis 
sion  was.  They  dropped  no  bombs,  they  made  no 
effort  to  attack  us,  but  simply  circled  around  and 
around  through  the  impenetrable  night,  accomplish 
ing  nothing,  so  far  as  we  could  see,  except  that 
they  were  incredibly  clever  in  avoiding  the  pur 
suit  of  our  airmen. 

"They  are  flying  at  great  speed,"  calculated  A. 
F.  Zahm,  the  aerodynamic  expert  of  the  Smith 
sonian  Institution,  "but  I  don't  see  what  their  pur 
pose  is." 

"I've   got  it,"   suddenly   exclaimed   John   Hays 
Hammond,  Jr.    "They've  sprung  a  new  trick.    Their 
machines    carry    powerful    radio    apparatus    and 
they're  cutting  off  our  wireless." 
"By  wave  interference?"  asked  Dr.  Zahm. 
"Of  course.    It's  perfectly  simple.    I've  done  it 
at    Gloucester."     He    turned    to    General   Evans. 
"Now,  sir,  you  see  why  we've  had  no  wireless  re 
ports  from  our  captive  balloon." 

This  mention  of  the  captive  balloon  brought  to 
mind  the  peril  of  Payne  Whitney,  who  was  on  look 
out  duty  in  the  balloon  near  the  German  lines, 
and  who  might  now  be  cut  off  by  enemy  aircraft, 
since  he  could  not  use  his  wireless  to  call  for  help. 

223 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

I  can  only  state  briefly  that  this  danger  was 
averted  and  Whitney's  life  saved  by  the  courage 
and  prompt  action  of  Robert  J.  Collier  and  Larry 
Waterbury,  who  flew  through  the  night  to  the  res 
cue  of  their  friend  with  a  supporting  air  squadron 
and  arrived  just  in  time  to  fight  off  a  band  of  Ger 
man  raiders. 

I  deeply  regret  that  I  must  record  these  thrill 
ing  happenings  in  such  bald  and  inadequate  words 
and  especially  that  my  pen  is  quite  unequal  to  de 
scribing  that  strangest  of  battles  which  I  witnessed 
the  next  day  from  the  heights  back  of  Remington. 
Never  was  there  a  more  thrilling  sight  than  the  ad 
vance  of  this  splendid  body  of  American  and  South 
American  aeroplanes,  flying  by  squadrons  in  long 
V's  like  flocks  of  huge-  birds,  with  a  terrifying 
snarling  of  propellers.  To  right  and  left  they  ma 
noeuvred,  following  wireless  orders  from  headquar 
ters  that  were  executed  by  the  various  squadron 
commanders  whose  aeroplanes  would  break  out 
bunting  from  time  to  time  for  particular  signals. 

So  overwhelming  was  the  force  of  American  fly 
ers,  all  armed  with  machine  guns,  that  the  Ger 
mans  scarcely  disputed  the  mastery  of  the  air,  and 
about  seventy  of  their  old-fashioned  eagle  type  bi 
planes  were  soon  destroyed.  Our  total  losses  here 
were  only  eleven  machines,  but  these  carried  pre 
cious  lives,  some  of  our  bravest  and  most  skilful 
amateur  airmen,  Norman  Cabot,  Charles  Jerome  Ed 
wards,  Harold  F.  McCormick,  James  A.  Blair,  Jr., 
224 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


B.  B.  Lewis,  Percy  Pyne,  2nd,  Eliot  Cross,  Roy  D. 
Chapin,  Logan  A.  Vilas  and  Bartlett  Arkell. 

I  turned  to  my  friend  Hart  0.  Berg,  the  Euro 
pean  aeroplane  expert,  and  remarked  that  we 
seemed  to  be  winning,  but  he  said  little,  simply 
frowned  through  his  binoculars. 

"Don't  you  think  so?"  I  persisted. 

"Wait!"  he  answered.  "There's  something 
queer  about  this.  Why  should  the  Germans  have 
such  an  inferior  aircraft  force?  Where  are  all  their 
wonderful  Fokker  machines?" 

"You  mean " 

"I  mean  that  this  battle  isn't  over  yet.  Ah! 
Look!  We're  getting  our  work  in  with  that  chlo 
rine." 

It  was  indeed  true.  With  the  control  of  the  skies 
assured  us,  our  fleet  of  liquid  gas  carriers  had  now 
gone  into  action  and  at  many  points  we  saw  the 
heavy  poison  clouds  spreading  over  the  enemy  hosts 
like  a  yellow  green  sea.  The  battle  of  chlorine  had 
begun.  The  war  of  chemistry  was  raining  down  out 
of  the  skies.  It  is  certain  that  nothing  like  this 
had  ever  been  seen  before.  There  had  been  chlorine 
fighting  in  the  trenches  out  of  squirt  gun  apparatus 
— plenty  of  that  in  1915,  with  a  few  score  killed 
or  injured,  but  here  it  came  down  by  tons  over 
a  whole  army,  this  devilish  stuff  one  breath  of  which 
deep  into  the  lungs  smote  a  man  down  as  if  dead. 

The  havoc  thus  wrought  in  the  German  ranks 
was  terrific;  especially  as  General  Wood  took  ad- 

225 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

vantage  of  the  enemy's  distress  to  sweep  their  lines 
with  fierce  artillery  fire  from  his  batteries  on  the 
heights. 

"We've  got  them  going,"  said  I. 

Berg  shook  his  head. 

"Not  yet." 

If  General  Wood  had  been  able  to  hurl  his  army 
forward  in  a  desperate  charge  at  this  moment  of 
German  demoralisation  it  is  possible  we  might  have 
gained  a  victory,  but  the  risks  were  too  heavy.  The 
American  forces  were  greatly  outnumbered  and  to 
send  them  into  those  chlorine-swept  areas  was  to 
bring  the  enemy's  fate  upon  them.  Wood  must  hold 
his  men  upon  the  heights  until  our  artillery  and 
poison  gas  attack  had  practically  won  the  day. 
Then  a  final  charge  might  clinch  matters — that 
was  the  plan,  but  it  worked  out  differently,  for,  after 
their  first  demoralisation,  the  enemy  learned  to 
avoid  the  descending  danger  by  running  from  it. 
They  could  avoid  the  slowly  spreading  chlorine 
clouds  by  seeking  higher  ground  and,  presently,  they 
regained  a  great  measure  of  their  confidence  and 
courage  and  swept  forward  in  furious  fresh  at 
tacks. 

Even  so  the  Americans  fought  for  hours  with 
every  advantage  and  our  artillery  did  frightful  ex 
ecution.  At  three  o'clock  I  sent  off  a  cable  to  the 
Times  that  General  Wood's  prospects  were  excel 
lent,  but  at  half-past  four  our  supply  of  liquid  chlo 
rine  was  exhausted  and  news  came  from  Niagara 
226 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


Falls  that  a  German  spy  on  Grand  Island  had  blown 
up  the  great  chlorine  supply  tank  containing  20,- 
000  tons.  And  the  Niagara  power-plants  had  been 
wrecked  by  dynamite. 

Still  the  Americans  fought  on  gallantly,  despe 
rately,  knowing  that  everything  was  at  stake,  and 
our  aeroplanes,  with  their  batteries  of  machine  guns, 
gave  effective  assistance.  Superiority  in  numbers, 
however,  soon  made  itself  felt  and  at  five  o'clock 
the  Germans,  relieved  from  the  chlorine  menace, 
advanced  their  heavy  artillery  and  began  a  ter 
rific  bombardment  of  our  trenches. 

"Hello!"  exclaimed  Berg  suddenly.  "What's  that 
coming?" 

He  pointed  to  the  northeast,  where  we  made  out 
a  group  of  swiftly  approaching  aeroplanes,  flying 
in  irregular  order.  We  watched  them  alight  safely 
near  General  Wood's  headquarters,  all  but  one 
marked  "Women  of  1915,"  which  was  hit  by  an  anti 
aircraft  gun,  as  it  came  to  earth,  and  settled  down 
with  a  broken  wing  and  some  injuries  to  the  pilot, 
Miss  Ethel  Barrymore,  and  the  observer,  Mrs. 
Charles  S.  Whitman,  wife  of  Senator  Whitman. 

This  was  but  one  demonstration  of  the  heroism  of 
our  women.  Thousands  had  volunteered  their  ser 
vices  as  soon  as  the  war  broke  out  and  many,  finding 
that  public  sentiment  was  against  having  women  in 
the  ranks,  learned  to  fly  and  to  operate  radio  appara 
tus  and  were  admitted  in  these  branches  of  the  ser 
vice.  Among  the  women  who  volunteered  were  hun- 

227 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

dreds  of  members  of  the  Women's  Section  of  the 
Movement  for  National  Preparedness,  including 
members  of  the  Council  of  Women,  Daughters  of 
American  Revolution,  Ladies  of  the  G.  A.  R.  (Na 
tional  and  Empire  State),  United  Daughters  of  the 
Confederacy,  Association  Opposed  to  Woman's  Suf 
frage,  Civic  Federation  Woman's  Department,  So 
ciety  United  States  Daughters  of  1812,  Woman's 
Rivers  and  Harbors  Congress,  Congress  of  Mothers, 
Daughters  of  Cincinnati,  Daughters  of  the  Union, 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  National  Special 
Aid  Society. 

These  organisations  of  American  women  not  only 
supplied  a  number  of  skilled  aeroplane  pilots,  but 
they  were  of  material  help  in  strengthening  the 
fighting  forces,  as  well  as  in  general  relief  work. 

As  the  shadows  of  night  approached  we  were 
startled  by  the  sudden  sweep  across  the  sky  of  a 
broad  yellow  searchlight  beam,  lifted  and  lowered 
repeatedly,  while  a  shower  of  Roman  candles  added 
vehemence  to  the  signal. 

"Something  has  happened.  They've  brought  im 
portant  news,"  cried  my  friend,  whereupon  we  hur 
ried  to  headquarters  and  identified  most  of  the  ma 
chines  as  separate  units  in  Rear  Admiral  Peary's 
aero-radio  system  of  coast  defence,  while  two  of 
them,  piloted  by  Ralph  Pulitzer  (wounded)  and  W. 
K.  Vanderbilt,  belonged  to  Emerson  McMillin's 
reefing-wings  scouting  squadron. 

We  listened  eagerly  to  the  reports  of  pilots  and 
228 


BATTLE  WITH  CHLORINE 


gunners  from  these  machines,  Marion  McMillin,  W. 
Redmond  Cross,  Harry  Payne  Whitney  (wounded), 
William  Ziegler,  Jr.,  Alexander  Blair  Thaw,  W. 
Averill  Harriman,  Edwin  Gould,  Jr.  (wounded),  and 
learned  that  a  powerful  fleet  of  enemy  aircraft,  at 
least  500,  had  been  sighted  over  Chesapeake  Bay  and 
were  flying  swiftly  to  the  support  of  the  Germans. 
These  aeroplanes  had  started  from  a  base  near  At 
lantic  City  and  would  arrive  within  half  an  hour. 

A  council  of  war  was  held  immediately  and,  act 
ing  on  the  advice  of  aeroplane  experts,  General 
Wood  ordered  the  withdrawal  of  our  land  and  air 
forces.  It  would  be  madness  to  attempt  further  re 
sistance.  Our  army  was  hopelessly  outnumbered, 
our  chlorine  supply  was  gone,  our  air  fleet,  after  fly 
ing  all  day,  was  running  short  of  gasoline  and  its 
weary  pilots  were  in  no  condition  to  withstand  the 
attack  of  a  fresh  German  fleet.  At  all  costs  we  must 
save  our  aeroplanes,  for  without  them  the  little  rem 
nant  of  our  army  would  be  blind. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  We  had  done 
our  best  and  failed.  At  six  o'clock  orders  were 
given  that  the  whole  American  army  prepare  for 
a  night  retreat  into  the  remote  fastnesses  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  We  had  made  our  last 
stand  east  of  the  Alleghenies  and  fell  back  heavy- 
heartedj-Jeaving  the  invaders  in  full  possession  of 
our  Atlantic  seaboard. 


229 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE    AWAKENING    OF    AMERICA 

THERE  followed  dark  days  for  America.  Wash 
ington  was  taken  by  the  enemy,  but  not  until  our 
important  prisoners,  the  Crown  Prince  and  von  Hin- 
denburg,  had  been  hurried  to  Chicago.  Baltimore 
was  taken.  Everything  from  Maine  to  Florida  and 
all  the  Gulf  ports  were  taken. 

Add  to  this  a  widespread  spirit  of  disorder  and 
disunion,  strikes  and  rioting  in  many  cities,  dyna 
mite  outrages,  violent  addresses  of  demagogues  and 
labour  leaders,  pleas  for  peace  at  any  price  by 
misguided  fanatics  who  were  ready  to  reap  the 
whirlwind  they  had  sown.  These  were  days  when 
men  of  brain  and  courage,  patriots  of  the  nation 
with  the  spirit  of  '76  in  them,  almost  despaired  of 
the  future. 

Through  all  this  storm  and  darkness,  amid  dis 
sension  and  violence,  one  man  stood  firm  for  the 
right,  one  wise  big-souled  man,  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  In  a  clamour  of  tongues  he  heard 
the  still  small  voice  within  and  laboured  prodig 
iously  to  build  up  unity  and  save  the  nation.  Like 
Lincoln,  he  was  loved  and  honoured  even  by  his 
enemies. 

230 


AWAKENING  OF  AMERICA 


It  was  my  privilege  to  hear  the  great  speech  which 
the  President  of  the  United  States  delivered  in  Chi 
cago,  November  29,  1921,  a  date  which  Theodore 
Roosevelt  has  called  the  most  memorable  in  Ameri 
can  history.  The  immense  auditorium  on  the  lake 
front,  where  once  were  the  Michigan  Central  tracks, 
was  packed  to  suffocation.  It  is  estimated  that 
40,000  men  and  women,  representing  every  state 
and  organisation  in  the  Union,  heard  this  impas 
sioned  appeal  for  the  nation,  that  will  live  in  Ameri 
can  history  along  with  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  ad 
dress. 

The  President  spoke  first  and  did  not  remain  to 
hear  the  other  orators,  as  he  was  leaving  for  Mil 
waukee,  where  he  hoped  to  relieve  a  dangerous,  al 
most  a  revolutionary  situation.  He  had  been  urged 
not  to  set  foot  in  this  breeding  place  of  sedition, 
but  he  replied  that  the  citizens  of  Milwaukee  were 
his  fellow  countrymen,  his  brothers.  They  were 
dear  to  him.  They  needed  him.  And  he  would  not 
fail  them. 

In  spite  of  this  stirring  cry  from  the  heart,  the 
audience  seemed  but  mildly  affected  and  allowed 
the  President  to  depart  with  only  perfunctory  ap 
plause.  There  was  no  sign  of  success  for  his  plea 
that  the  nation  rouse  itself  from  its  lethargy  and 
send  its  sons  unselfishly  in  voluntary  enlistment 
to  drive  the  enemy  from  our  shores.  And  there 
were  resentful  murmurs  when  the  President  warned 

231 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

his  hearers  that  compulsory  military  service  might 
be  inevitable. 

"Why  shall  the  poor  give  their  lives  to  save  the 
rich?"  answered  Charles  Edward  Russell,  speaking 
for  the  socialists.  "What  have  the  rich  ever  done 
for  the  poor  except  to  exploit  them  and  oppress 
them?  Why  should  the  proletariat  worry  about  the 
frontiers  between  nations?  It's  only  a  question 
which  tyrant  has  his  heel  on  our  necks.  No!  The 
labouring  men  of  America  ask  you  to  settle  for  them 
and  for  their  children  the  frontiers  between  pov 
erty  and  riches.  That's  what  they're  ready  to  fight 
for,  a  fair  division  of  the  products  of  toil,  and,  by 
God,  they're  going  to  have  it!" 

One  feature  of  the  evening  was  a  stirring  ad 
dress  by  the  beautiful  Countess  of  Warwick,  promi 
nent  in  the  feminist  movement,  who  had  come  over 
from  England  to  speak  for  the  Women's  World 
Peace  Federation. 

"Women  of  America,"  said  the  Countess,  "I  ap 
peal  to  you  to  save  this  nation  from  further  hor 
rors  of  bloodshed.  Rise  up  in  the  might  of  your 
love  and  your  womanhood  and  end  this  wholesale 
murder.  Remember  the  great  war  in  Europe! 
What  did  it  accomplish?  Nothing  except  to  fill 
millions  of  graves  with  brave  sons  and  beloved 
husbands.  Nothing  except  to  darken  millions  of 
homes  with  sorrow.  Nothing  except  to  spread  ruin 
and  desolation  everywhere.  Are  you  going  to  al 
low  this  ghastly  business  to  be  repeated  here? 
232 


AWAKENING  OF  AMERICA 


"Women  of  America,  I  bring  you  greetings  from 
the  women  of  England,  the  women  of  France,  the 
women  of  Germany,  who  have  joined  this  great  pa 
cifist  movement  and  whose  voices  sounding  by  mil 
lions  can  no  longer  be  stifled.  Let  the  men  hear 
and  heed  our  cry.  We  say  to  them:  'Stop!  Our 
rights  on  this  earth  equal  yours.  We  gave  you 
birth,  we  fed  you  at  the  breast,  we  guarded  your 
tender  years,  and  we  notify  you  now  that  you  shall 
no  longer  kill  and  maim  our  husbands,  our  sons, 
our  .fathers,  our  brothers,  our  lovers.  It  is  in  the 
power  of  women  to  drive  war's  hell  from  the  earth 
and,  whatever  the  cost,  we  are  going  to  do  it.' }: 

"No!  No!"  came  a  tumult  of  cries  from  all  parts 
of  the  hall. 

"We  believe  in  fighting  to  the  last  for  our  national 
existence,"  cried  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan,  waving  her 
hand,  whereupon  hundreds  of  women  patriots, 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  suffrage  and 
anti-suffrage  leaders,  members  of  the  Navy  League, 
Red  Cross  workers,  sprang  to  their  feet  and  screamed 
their  enthusiasm  for  righteous  war. 

Among  these  I  recognised  Mrs.  John  A.  Logan, 
Miss  Mabel  Boardman,  Mrs.  Lindon  Bates,  Mrs. 
Mary  S.  Lockwood,  Mrs.  Seymour  L.  Cromwell,  Miss 
Alice  Hill  Chittenden,  Mrs.  Oliver  Herford,  Mrs. 
Hobart  Chatfield-Taylor,  Mrs.  John  Temple  Graves, 
Mrs.  Edwin  Gould,  Mrs.  George  Dewey,  Mrs.  Wil 
liam  Gumming  Story,  Mrs.  George  Harvey,  Mrs. 
Thomas  A.  Edison,  Mrs.  William  C.  Potter,  Miss 

233 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Marie  Van  Vorst,  Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Dodge,  Mrs. 
George  J.  Gould,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Oakley  Rhinelander, 
Mrs.  W.  K.  Vanderbilt,  Mrs.  John  Jacob  Astor,  Mrs. 
Peter  Cooper  Hewitt,  Mrs.  M.  Orme  Wilson,  Mrs. 
Simon  Baruch,  Mrs.  Oliver  Herford,  Mrs.  Wm.  Rey 
nolds  Brown,  and  Mrs.  Douglas  Robinson. 

When  this  storm  had  subsided,  Henry  Ford  rose 
to  renew  the  pacifist  attack. 

"It  shocks  and  grieves  me,"  he  began,  "to  find 
American  women  openly  advocating  the  killing  of 
human  beings." 

"Where  would  your  business  be,"  yelled  a  voice 
in  the  gallery,  "if  George  Washington  hadn't  fought 
the  War  of  the  Revolution?" 

This  sally  called  forth  such  frantic  cheers  that 
Mr.  Ford  was  unable  to  make  himself  heard  and 
sat  down  in  confusion. 

Other  speakers  were  Jane  Addams,  Hudson 
Maxim,  Bernard  Ridder  and  William  Jennings 
Bryan.  The  audience  sat  listless  as  the  old  argu 
ments  and  recriminations,  the  old  facts  and  falla 
cies,  were  laid  before  them.  Like  the  nation,  they 
seemed  plunged  in  a  stupor  of  indifference.  They 
were  asleep. 

Then  suddenly  fell  the  bomb  from  heaven.  It 
was  during  the  mild  applause  following  Mr.  Bryan's 
pacifist  appeal,  that  I  had  a  premonition  of  some 
momentous  happening.  I  was  in  the  press  gallery 
quite  near  to  Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  next  speaker, 
who  was  seated  at  the  end  of  the  platform,  busy 
234 


with  his  notes,  when  a  messenger  came  out  from 
behind  the  stage  and  handed  the  Colonel  a  tele 
gram.  As  he  read  it  I  saw  a  startling  change. 
Roosevelt  put  aside  his  notes  and  a  strange  tense 
look  came  into  his  eyes  and,  presently,  when  he 
rose  to  speak,  I  saw  that  his  usually  ruddy  face  was 
ashen  grey. 

As  Roosevelt  rose,  another  messenger  thrust  a 
wet,  ink-stained  newspaper  into  his  hand. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  began,  and  in  his  first 
words  there  was  a  sense  of  impending  danger,  "for 
reasons  of  the  utmost  importance  I  shall  not  de 
liver  the  speech  that  I  have  prepared.  I  have  a 
brief  message,  a  very  grave  message,  that  will  reach 
your  hearts  more  surely  than  any  words  of  mine. 
The  deliberations  of  this  great  gathering  have  been 
taken  out  of  our  hands.  We  have  nothing  more 
to  discuss,  for  Almighty  God  has  spoken! 

"My  friends,  the  great  man  who  was  with  us 
but  now,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  has 
been  assassinated." 

No  words  can  describe  the  scene  that  followed. 
A  moment  of  smiting  silence,  then  madness,  hys 
teria,  women  fainting,  men  clamouring  and  cursing, 
and  finally  a  vast  upsurging  of  quickened  souls,  as 
the  organ  pealed  forth:  "My  Country,  Tis  of 
Thee,"  and  forty  thousand  Americans  rose  and  sang 
their  hearts  out. 

Then,  in  a  silence  of  death,  Roosevelt  spoke 
again: 

235 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"Listen  to  the  last  words  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States:  'The  Union!  The  Flag!'  That 
is  what  he  lived  for  and  died  for,  that  is  what  he 
loved.  'The  Union!  The  Flag!' 

"My  friends,  they  say  patriotism  is  dead  in  this 
land.  They  say  we  are  eaten  up  with  love  of  money, 
tainted  with  a  yellow  streak  that  makes  us  afraid 
to  fight.  It's  a  lie!  I  am  ready  to  give  every  dol 
lar  I  have  in  the  world  to  help  save  this  nation 
and  it's  the  same  with  you  men.  Am  I  right?" 

A  roar  of  shouts  and  hysterical  yells  shook  the 
building. 

"I  am  sixty  years  old,  but  I'll  fight  in  the  trenches 
with  my  four  sons  beside  me  and  you  men  will  do 
the  same.  Am  I  right?" 

Again  came  a  roar  that  could  be  heard  across 
Chicago. 

"We  all  make  mistakes.  I  do  nothing  but  make 
mistakes,  but  I'm  sorry.  I  have  said  hard  things 
about  public  men,  especially  about  German-Amer 
icans,  but  I'm  sorry." 

With  a  noble  gesture  he  turned  to  Bernard  Rid- 
der,  who  sprang  to  meet  him,  his  eyes  blazing  with 
loyalty. 

"There  are  no  German- Americans!"  shouted  Rid- 
der.  "We're  all  Americans!  Americans!" 

He  clasped  Roosevelt's  hand  while  the  audience 
shouted  its  delight. 

Quick  on  his  feet  came  Charles  Edward  Russell, 
fired  with  the  same  resistless  patriotism. 
236 


AWAKENING  OF  AMERICA 


"There  are  no  more  socialists!"  he  cried.  "No 
more  proletariat!  We're  all  Americans!  We'll  all 
fight  for  the  Union  and  the  old  flag!  You  too!" 

He  turned  to  William  Jennings  Bryan,  who  rose 
slowly  and  with  outstretched  hands  faced  his  ad 
versaries. 

"I,  too,  have  made  mistakes  and  I  am  sorry.  I, 
too,  feel  the  grandeur  of  those  noble  words  spoken 
by  that  great  patriot  who  has  sent  us  his  last  mes 
sage.  I,  too,  will  stand  by  the  flag  in  this  time  of 
peril  and  will  spare  neither  my  life  nor  my  for 
tune  so  long  as  the  invader's  foot  rests  on  the  soil 
of  free  America." 

"Americans!"  shouted  Roosevelt,  the  sweat 
streaming  from  his  face.  "Look!"  He  caught 
Bryan  by  one  arm  and  Russell  by  the  other.  "See 
how  we  stand  together.  All  the  rest  is  forgotten. 
Americans!  Brothers!  On  your  feet  everybody! 
Yell  it  out  to  the  whole  land,  to  the  whole  world, 
America  is  awake!  Thank  God,  America  is  awake!" 


237 


CHAPTER   XXII 

ON    CHRISTMAS    EVE    BOSTON    THRILLS    THE    NATION 
WITH   AN   ACT  OF   MAGNIFICENT   HEROISM 

Now  all  over  America  came  a  marvellous  spiritual 
awakening.  The  sacrifice  of  the  President's  noble 
life,  and  his  wife's  thrilling  effort  to  shield  her  hus 
band,  was  not  in  vain.  Once  more  the  world  knew 
the  resistless  power  of  a  martyr's  death.  Women 
and  men  alike  were  stirred  to  warlike  zeal  and  a 
joy  in  national  sacrifice  and  service.  The  enlist 
ment  officers  were  swamped  with  a  crush  of  young 
and  old,  eager  to  join  the  colours;  and  within  three 
days  following  the  President's  assassination  a  mil 
lion  soldiers  were  added  to  the  army  of  defence  and 
a  million  more  were  turned  away.  It  was  no  longer 
a  question  how  to  raise  a  great  American  army,  but 
how  to  train  and  equip  it,  and  how  to  provide  it 
with  officers. 

Most  admirable  was  the  behaviour  of  the  great 
body  of  German-Americans;  in  fact  it  was  a  Ger 
man-American  branch  of  the  American  Defence  So 
ciety,  financed  in  America,  that  started  the  beautiful 
custom,  which  became  universal,  of  wearing  patri 
otic  buttons  bearing  the  sacred  words:  "The  Union! 
The  Flag!" 
238 


BOSTON'S  HEROISM 


"It  was  one  thing,"  wrote  Bernard  Bidder  in  the 
Chicago  Staats-Zeitung,  "for  German- Americans  to 
side  with  Germany  in  the  great  European  war 
(1914-1919)  when  only  our  sympathies  were  in 
volved.  It  is  quite  a  different  thing  for  us  now 
in  a  war  that  involves  our  homes  and  our  property, 
all  that  we  have  in  the  world.  When  Germany 
attacks  America,  she  attacks  German-Americans, 
she  attacks  us  in  our  material  interests,  in  our  fond 
est  associations;  and  we  will  resist  her  just  as  in 
1776  the  American  colonists,  who  were  really  Eng 
lish,  resisted  England,  the  mother  country,  when 
she  attacked  them  in  the  same  way." 

I  was  impressed  by  the  truth  of  this  statement 
during  a  visit  that  I  made  to  Milwaukee,  where 
I  found  greatly  improved  conditions.  In  fact,  Ger 
man-Americans  themselves  were  bringing  to  light 
the  activities  of  German  spies  and  vigorously  op 
posing  German  propaganda. 

In  Allentown,  Pennsylvania,  which  has  a  large 
German  population,  I  heard  of  a  German-American 
mother  named  Roth,  who  was  so  zealous  in  her 
loyalty  to  the  United  States  that  she  rose  at  five 
o'clock  on  the  day  following  the  President's  assas 
sination  and  enlisted  her  three  sons  before  they 
were  out  of  bed. 

In  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland  and 
other  cities  women  volunteered  by  thousands  as 
postmen,  street-car  conductors,  elevator  operators 
and  for  service  in  factories  and  business  houses,  so 

239 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

as  to  release  the  men  for  military  service.  Chi 
cago  newspapers  printed  pictures  of  Mrs.  Harold  F. 
McCormick,  Mrs.  J.  Ogden  Armour,  Mrs.  J.  Clar 
ence  Webster  and  other  prominent  society  women 
in  blue  caps  and  improvised  uniforms,  ringing  up 
fares  on  the  Wabash  Avenue  cars  for  the  sake  of 
the  example  they  would  set  to  others. 

In  San  Francisco,  Denver,  Portland,  Oregon, 
Omaha,  and  Salt  Lake  City  a  hundred  thousand 
women,  at  gatherings  of  women's  clubs  and  organi 
sations,  formally  joined  the  Women's  National  War 
Economy  League  and  pledged  themselves  as  fol 
lows: 

"We,  the  undersigned  American  women,  in  this 
time  of  national  need  and  peril,  do  hereby  promise: 

"(1)  To  buy  no  jewelry  or  useless  ornaments  for 
one  year  and  to  contribute  the  amount  thus  saved 
(from  an  average  estimated  allowance)  to  the 
Women's  National  War  Fund. 

"(2)  To  buy  only  two  hats  a  year,  the  value  of 
said  hats  not  to  exceed  ten  dollars,  and  to  con 
tribute  the  amount  thus  saved  (from  an  average 
estimated  allowance)  to  the  Women's  National  War 
Fund. 

"(3)  To  buy  only  two  dresses  a  year,  the  value 
of  said  dresses  not  to  exceed  sixty  dollars,  and  to 
contribute  the  amount  thus  saved  (from  an  average 
estimated  allowance)  to  the  Women's  National  War 
Fund. 

"(4)  To  forego  all  entertaining  at  restaurants, 
240 


BOSTON'S  HEROISM 


all  formal  dinner  and  luncheon  parties  and  to  con 
tribute  the  amount  thus  saved  (from  an  average 
estimated  allowance)  to  the  Women's  National 
War  Fund. 

"(5)  To  abstain  from  cocktails,  highballs  and  all 
expensive  wines,  also  from  cigarettes,  to  influence 
husbands,  fathers,  brothers,  sons  and  men  friends 
to  do  the  same,  and  to  contribute  the  amount  thus 
saved  to  the  Women's  National  War  Fund. 

"(6)  To  keep  this  pledge  until  the  invader  has 
been  driven  from  the  soil  of  free  America." 

I  may  mention  that  Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch, 
in  urging  her  sister  women  at  various  mass  meet 
ings  to  sign  this  pledge,  made  the  impressive  es 
timate  that,  by  practising  these  economies  during  a 
two  years'  war,  a  hundred  thousand  well-to-do 
American  women  might  save  a  thousand  million 
dollars. 

Other  American  women,  under  the  leadership  of 
Mrs.  Mary  Logan  Tucker,  daughter  of  General  John 
A.  Logan,  prepared  themselves  for  active  field  serv 
ice  at  women's  military  camps,  in  several  states, 
where  they  were  instructed  in  bandage  making, 
first-aid  service,  signalling  and  the  use  of  small 
arms. 

As  weeks  passed  the  national  spirit  grew  stronger, 
stimulated  by  rousing  speeches  of  Roosevelt,  Rus 
sell  and  Bryan  and  fanned  into  full  flame  by  Bos 
ton's  immortal  achievement  on  December  24, 
1921.  On  that  day,  by  authorisation  of  General  von 

241 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Beseler,  commanding  the  German  force  of  occupa 
tion,  a  great  crowd  had  gathered  on  Boston  Com 
mon  for  a  Christmas  tree  celebration  with  a  dis 
tribution  of  food  and  toys  for  the  poor  of  the  city. 
In  the  Public  Gardens  near  the  statue  of  George 
Washington,  Billy  Sunday  was  making  an  address 
when  suddenly,  on  the  stroke  of  five,  the  bell  in  the 
old  Park  Street  church  and  then  the  bells  in  all  the 
churches  of  Boston  began  to  toll. 

It  was  a  signal  for  an  uprising  of  the  people  and 
was  answered  in  a  way  that  will  fill  a  proud  page  of 
American  history  so  long  as  human  courage  and 
love  of  liberty  are  honoured  upon  earth.  In  an 
instant  every  telephone  wire  in  the  city  went  dead, 
leaving  the  Germans  cut  off  from  communication 
among  then^selves.  All  traffic  and  business  ceased 
as  if  by  magic,  all  customary  activities  were  put 
aside  and,  with  the  first  clangour  of  the  bells,  the 
whole  population  poured  into  the  streets  and  surged 
towards  Boston  Common  by  converging  avenues, 
singing  as  they  went. 

Already  a  hundred  thousand  citizens  were  packed 
within  this  great  enclosure,  and  guarding  them  were 
three  thousand  German  foot  soldiers  and  a  thou 
sand  horsemen  in  formidable  groups,  with  rifles  and 
machine  guns  ready — before  the  State  House,  before 
the  Soldiers'  Monument,  along  Tremont  Street  and 
Boylston  Street  and  at  other  strategic  points.  Never 
in  the  history  of  the  world  had  an  unarmed,  un 
trained  mob  prevailed  over  such  a  body  of  disci- 
242 


BOSTON'S  HEROISM 


plined  troops.  The  very  thought  was  madness. 
And  yet 

Hark!  That  roar  of  voices  in  the  Public  Gar 
dens!  What  is  it?  A  band  playing  in  the  distance? 
Who  ordered  a  band  to  play?  German  officers  shout 
harsh  commands.  "Back!"  "Stand  back!"  "Stop 
this  pushing  of  the  crowd!"  "Mein  Gott!  Those 
women  and  children  will  be  trampled  by  the 
horses!" 

Alas,  that  is  true !  Once  more  the  cause  of  Amer 
ican  liberty  requires  that  Boston  Common  be  hal 
lowed  by  American  blood.  The  people  of  this  New 
England  city  are  tired  of  German  rule.  They  want 
their  city  for  themselves  and  are  going  to  take  it. 
Guns  or  not,  soldiers  or  not,  they  are  going  to  take 
their  city. 

Listen!  They  are  coming!  Six  hundred  thou 
sand  strong  in  dense  masses  that  choke  every  thor 
oughfare  from  wall  to  wall  the  citizens  of  Boston, 
women  and  children  with  the  men,  are  coming! 
And  singing! 

"Hurrah!    Hurrah!    We  sound  the  jubilee! 
Hurrah!    Hurrah!    The  flag  that  set  us  free." 

They  are  practically  unarmed,  although  some  of 
the  men  carry  shot-guns,  pistols,  rifles,  clubs,  stones; 
but  they  know  these  will  avail  little  against  mur 
derous  machine  guns.  They  know  they  must  find 
strength  in  their  weakness  and  overwhelm  the  en- 

243 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

emy  by  the  sheer  weight  of  their  bodies.  They 
must  stun  the  invaders  by  their  willingness  to  die. 
That  is  the  only  real  power  of  this  Boston  host, 
their  sublime  willingness  to  die. 

It  is  estimated  that  five  thousand  of  them  did 
die,  and  ten  thousand  were  wounded,  in  the  first 
half  hour  after  the  German  machine  guns  opened 
fire.  And  still  the  Americans  came  on  in  a  shout 
ing,  surging  multitude,  a  solid  sea  of  bodies  with 
endless  rivers  of  bodies  pouring  in  behind  them.  It 
is  not  so  easy  to  kill  forty  acres  of  human  bodies, 
even  with  machine  guns! 

Endlessly  the  Americans  came  on,  hundreds  fall 
ing,  thousands  replacing  them,  until  presently  the 
Germans  ceased  firing,  either  in  horror  at  this  in 
credible  sacrifice  of  life  or  because  their  ammuni 
tion  was  exhausted.  What  chance  was  there  for 
German  ammunition  carts  to  force  their  way 
through  that  struggling  human  wall?  What  chance 
for  the  fifteen  hundred  German  reserves  in  Frank 
lin  Park  to  bring  relief  to  their  comrades? 

At  eight  o'clock  that  night  Boston  began  her  real 
Christmas  eve  celebration.  Over  the  land,  over  the 
world  the  joyful  tidings  were  flashed.  Boston  had 
heard  the  call  of  the  martyred  President  and  an 
swered  it.  The  capital  of  Massachusetts  was  free. 
The  Stars  and  Stripes  were  once  more  waving  over 
the  Bunker  Hill  Monument.  Four  thousand  Ger 
man  soldiers  were  prisoners  in  Mechanics  Hall  on 
Commonwealth  Avenue.  The  citizens  of  Boston 
244 


BOSTON'S  HEROISM 


had  taken  them  prisoners  with  their  bare  hands! 

This  news  made  an  enormous  sensation  not  only 
in  America  but  throughout  Europe,  where  Boston's 
heroism  and  scorn  of  death  aroused  unmeasured 
admiration  and  led  military  experts  in  France  and 
England  to  make  new  prophecies  regarding  the  out 
come  of  the  German-American  war. 

"All  things  are  possible,"  declared  a  writer  in  the 
Paris  Temps,  "for  a  nation  fired  with  a  supreme 
spiritual  zeal  like  that  of  the  Japanese  Samurai.  It 
is  simply  a  question  how  widely  this  sacred  fire  has 
spread  among  the  American  people." 


245 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

CONFESSIONS    OP    AN    AMERICAN    SPY    AND    BRAVERY 
OF     BUFFALO    SCHOOLBOYS 

ON  December  26th  I  received  a  cable  from  the 
London  Times  instructing  me  to  try  for  another  in 
terview  with  the  Crown  Prince  and  to  question 
him  on  the  effect  that  this  Boston  victory  might 
have  upon  the  German  campaign  in  America. 
Would  there  be  retaliatory  measures?  Would  Ger 
man  warships  bombard  Boston  from  the  sea? 

I  journeyed  at  once  to  Chicago  and  made  my  ap 
peal  to  Brigadier  General  George  T.  Langhorne, 
who  had  been  military  attache  at  Berlin  in  1915 
and  was  now  in  charge  of  the  Imperial  prisoner. 
The  Crown  Prince  and  his  staff  occupied  the  seventh 
floor  of  the  Hotel  Blackstone. 

"I'm  sorry,"  said  General  Langhorne,  after  he 
had  presented  my  request.  "The  Crown  Prince  has 
no  statement  to  make  at  present.  But  there  is  an 
other  German  prisoner  who  wishes  to  speak  to  you. 
I  suppose  it's  all  right  as  you  have  General  Wood's 
permission.  He  says  he  has  met  you  before — 
Colonel  von  Dusenberg." 

"Colonel  von  Dusenberg?" 
246 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  SPY 


"He  is  on  the  Crown  Prince's  staff.    In  here." 

I  opened  a  heavy  door  and  found  myself  in  a 
large  dimly  lighted  room. 

"Mr.  Langston!" 

The  voice  was  familiar  and,  turning,  I  stared  in 
amazement;  for  there,  dressed  as  an  officer  of  the 
Prussian  guard,  stood  the  man  I  had  rescued  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  the  brother  of  the  girl  I  had  seen 
in  Washington,  Lieutenant  Randolph  Ryerson  of 
the  United  States  navy.  He  had  let  his  moustache 
grow,  but  I  recognised  him  at  once. 

"You?"  I  stood  looking  at  him  and  saw  that 
his  face  was  deathly  white. 

"Yes.  I — I'm  in  trouble  and — I  have  things  to 
tell  you,"  he  stammered.  "Sit  down." 

I  sat  down  and  lighted  a  cigarette.  I  kept  think 
ing  how  much  he  looked  like  his  sister. 

"Ryerson,  what  the  devil  are  you  doing  in  that 
Prussian  uniform?" 

He  turned  away  miserably,  then  he  forced  him 
self  to  face  me. 

"I'll  get  the  worst  over  first.  I  don't  care  what 
happens  to  me  and — anyway  I — I'm  a  spy." 

"A  spy?" 

He  nodded.  "In  the  service  of  the  Germans.  It 
was  through  me  they  knew  about  Widding's  in 
vention  to  destroy  their  fleet.  It  was  through  me 
that  Edison  and  Widding  were  abducted.  I  meant 
to  disappear — that's  why  I  joined  von  Hindenburg's 
army,  but — we  were  captured  and — here  I  am." 

247 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

He  looked  at  me  helplessly  as  I  blew  out  a  cloud 
of  smoke. 

"How  is  this  possible?  How  did  it  happen? 
How,  Ryerson?"  I  gasped  in  amazement. 

He  shook  his  head.  "What's  the  use?  It  was 
money  and — there's  a  woman  in  it." 

"Go  on." 

"That's  all.  I  fell  for  one  of  their  damnable 
schemes  to  get  information.  It  was  three  years 
ago  on  the  Mediterranean  cruise  of  our  Atlantic 
squadron.  I  met  this  woman  in  Marseilles." 

"Well?" 

"She  called  herself  the  Countess  de  Matignon, 
and — I  was  a  young  lieutenant  and — I  couldn't  re 
sist  her.  Nobody  could.  She  wanted  money  and 
I  gave  her  all  I  had;  then  I  gambled  to  get  more. 
She  wanted  information  about  the  American  fleet, 
about  our  guns  and  coast  defences;  unimportant 
things  at  first,  but  pretty  soon  they  were  impor 
tant  and — I  was  crazy  about  her  and — swamped 
with  debts  and — I  yielded.  Within  six  months  she 
owned  me.  I  was  a  German  spy,  mighty  well  paid, 
too.  God!" 

I  stared  at  him  in  dismay.    I  could  not  speak. 

"Well,  after  the  war  broke  out  between  Germany 
and  America  last  April,  this  woman  came  to  New 
York  and  got  her  clutches  on  me  deeper  than  ever. 
I  gave  her  some  naval  secrets,  and  six  weeks  ago 
I  told  her  all  I  knew  about  Widding's  invention. 
248 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  SPY 


You  see  what  kind  of  a  dog  I  am,"  he  concluded 
bitterly. 

"Ryerson,  why  have  you  told  me  this?"  I  asked 
searchingly. 

"Why?"  He  flashed  a  straightforward  look  out 
of  his  handsome  eyes.  "Because  I'm  sick  of  the 
whole  rotten  game.  I've  played  my  cards  and  lost. 
I'm  sure  to  be  found  out — some  navy  man  will 
recognise  me,  in  spite  of  this  moustache,  and — you 
know  what  will  happen  then.  I'll  be  glad  of  it, 
but — before  I  quit  the  game  I  want  to  do  one  de 
cent  thing.  I'm  going  to  tell  you  where  they've 
taken  Edison." 

"You  know  where  Edison  is?" 

"Yes.    Don't  speak  so  loud." 

Ryerson  leaned  closer  and  whispered:  "He's  in 
Richmond,  Virginia." 

Silently  I  studied  this  unhappy  man,  wondering 
if  he  was  telling  the  truth.  He  must  have  felt  my 
doubts. 

"Langston,  you  don't  believe  me!  Why  should 
I  lie  to  you?  I  tell  you  I  want  to  make  amends. 
These  German  officers  trust  me.  I  know  their  plans 

and Oh,  my  God,  aren't  you  going  to  believe 

me?" 

"Go  on,"  I  said,  impressed  by  the  genuineness 
of  his  despair.  "What  plans  do  you  know?" 

"I  know  the  Germans  are  disturbed  by  this  pa 
triotic  spirit  in  America.  They're  afraid  of  it. 
They  don't  know  where  hell  may  break  loose  next 

249 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

— after  Boston.  They're  going  to  leave  Boston 
alone,  everything  alone  for  the  present — until  they 
get  their  new  army." 

"New  army?" 

"Yes — from  Germany.  They  have  sent  for  half 
a  million  more  men.  They'll  have  'em  here  in  a 
month  and — that's  why  I  want  to  do  something — 
before  it's  too  late." 

As  I  watched  him  I  began  to  believe  in  his  sin 
cerity.  Handsome  fellow !  I  can  see  him  now  with 
his  flushed  cheeks  and  pleading  eyes.  A  spy!  It 
would  break  his  sister's  heart. 

"What  can  you  do?"  I  asked  sceptically. 

He  looked  about  him  cautiously  and  lowered  his 
voice. 

"I  can  get  Edison  away  from  the  Germans,  and 
Edison  can  destroy  their  fleet." 

"Perhaps,"  said  I. 

"He  says  he  can." 

"I  know,  but — you  say  Edison  is  in  Richmond." 

"We  can  rescue  him.  If  you'll  only  help  me, 
Langston,  we  can  rescue  Edison.  I'll  go  to  Rich 
mond  with  papers  to  the  commanding  German  gen 
eral  that  will  get  me  anything." 

"Papers  as  a  German  spy?" 

"Well— yes." 

"You  can't  get  to  Richmond.  You're  a  prisoner 
yourself." 

"That's  where  you're  going  to  help  me.     You 
must  do  it — for  the  country — for  my  sister." 
250 


AND  ON  THE  MORNING  OF  JULY  4,  TWO  OF  VON 
KLUCK'S  STAFF  OFFICERS,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  A 
MILITARY  ESCORT,  MARCHED  DOWN  STATE  STREET 
TO  ARRANGE  FOR  THE  PAYMENT  OF  AN  INDEMNITY 
FROM  THE  CITY  OF  BOSTON*  OF  THREE  HUNDRED 
MILLION  DOLLARS. 


"Does  your  sister  know — what  you  are?" 

He  looked  away,  and  I  saw  his  lips  tighten  and 
his  hands  clench. 

"No!" 

"Do  you  want  me  to  tell  her?" 

He  thought  a  moment. 

"What's  the  use  of  hiding  it?  She's  bound  to 
know  some  day,  and — she'll  be  glad  I've  had  this 
little  flicker  of — decency.  Besides,  she  may  have  an 
idea.  Mary's  got  a  good  head  on  her.  Poor  kid!" 

I  told  Ryerson  that  I  would  think  the  matter 
over  and  find  some  way  to  communicate  with  him 
later.  Then  I  left  him. 

I  telegraphed  at  once  to  Miss  Ryerson,  who  hur 
ried  to  Chicago,  arriving  the  next  morning,  and  we 
spent  most  of  that  day  together,  discussing  the  hard 
problem  before  us.  The  girl  was  wonderfully  brave 
when  I  told  her  the  truth  about  her  brother.  She 
said  there  were  circumstances  in  his  early  life  that 
lessened  the  heinousness  of  his  wrong  doing.  And 
she  rejoiced  that  he  was  going  to  make  amends. 
She  knew  he  was  absolutely  sincere. 

I  suggested  that  we  go  to  General  Wood,  who 
was  friendly  to  both  of  us,  and  tell  him  the  whole 
truth,  but  Miss  Ryerson  would  not  hear  to  this. 
She  would  not  place  Randolph's  life  in  jeopardy  by 
revealing  the  fact  that  he  had  been  a  German  spy. 
Her  brother  must  make  good  before  he  could  hope 
to  be  trusted  or  forgiven. 

251 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"But  he's  a  prisoner;  he  can  do  nothing  unless 
he  has  his  liberty,"  I  objected. 

"We  will  get  him  his  liberty;  we  must  get  it,  but 
not  that  way." 

"Then  how?" 

For  a  long  time  we  studied  this  question  in  all  its 
phases.  How  could  Lieutenant  Ryerson  gain  his 
liberty?  How  could  he  get  a  chance  to  make 
amends  for  his  treachery?  And,  finally,  seeing  no 
other  way,  we  fell  back  upon  the  desperate  expedi 
ent  of  an  exchange.  I  would  obtain  permission 
for  Miss  Ryerson  to  visit  her  brother,  and  they 
would  change  clothes,  she  remaining  as  a  prisoner 
in  his  place  while  he  went  forth  to  undo  if  pos 
sible  the  harm  that  he  had  done. 

The  details  of  this  plan  we  arranged  immedi 
ately.  I  saw  Ryerson  the  next  day,  and  when  I 
told  him  what  his  sister  was  resolved  to  do  in  the 
hope  of  saving  his  honour,  he  cried  like  a  child 
and  I  felt  more  than  ever  convinced  of  his  honest 
repentance. 

We  decided  upon  December  28th  for  the  attempt, 
and  two  days  before  this  Randolph  found  a  plausi 
ble  excuse  for  cutting  off  his  moustache.  He  told 
General  Langhorne  that  he  had  become  a  convert  to 
the  American  fashion  of  a  clean  shaven  face. 

As  to  the  escape  itself,  I  need  only  say  that  on 
December  28th,  in  the  late  afternoon,  I  escorted 
Miss  Ryerson,  carefully  veiled,  to  the  Hotel  Black- 
stone;  and  an  hour  later  I  left  the  hotel  with  a 
252 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  SPY 


person  in  women's  garments,  also  carefully  veiled. 
And  that  night  Randolph  Ryerson  and  I  started 
for  Richmond.  I  may  add  that  I  should  never  have 
found  the  courage  to  leave  that  lovely  girl  in  such 
perilous  surroundings  had  she  not  literally  com-1 
manded  me  to  go. 

"We  may  be  saving  the  nation,"  she  begged. 
"Go!  Go!  And — I'll  be  thinking  of  you — praying 
for  you — for  you  both." 

My  heart  leaped  before  the  wonder  of  her  eyes 
as  she  looked  at  me  and  repeated  these  last  words: 
"For  you  both!" 

We  left  the  express  at  Pittsburg,  intending  to 
proceed  by  automobile  across  Pennsylvania,  then 
by  night  through  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia 
and  Virginia;  for,  of  course,  we  had  to  use  the 
utmost  caution  to  avoid  the  sentries  of  both  ar 
mies  which  were  spread  over  this  region. 

In  Pittsburg  we  lunched  at  the  Hotel  Duquesne, 
after  which  Ryerson  left  me  for  a  few  hours,  say 
ing  that  he  wished  to  look  over  the  ground  and 
also  to  procure  the  services  of  a  high-powered 
touring  car. 

"Don't  take  any  chances,"  I  said  anxiously. 

"I'll  be  careful.  I'll  be  back  inside  of  two  hours," 
he  promised. 

But  two  hours,  four  hours,  six  hours  passed  and 
he  did  not  come.  I  dined  alone,  sick  at  heart,  won 
dering  if  I  had  made  a  ghastly  mistake. 

It  was  nearly  ten  o'clock  that  night  when  Ryer- 

253 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

son  came  back  after  seven  hours'  absence.  We  went 
to  our  room  immediately,  and  he  told  me  what 
had  happened,  the  gist  of  it  being  that  he  had  dis 
covered  important  news  that  might  change  our 
plans. 

"These  people  trust  me  absolutely,"  he  said. 
"They  tell  me  everything." 

"You  mean — German  spies?" 

"Yes.  Pittsburg  is  full  of  'em.  They're  plotting 
to  wreck  the  big  steel  plants  and  factories  here  that 
are  making  war  munitions.  I'll  know  more  about 
that  later,  but  the  immediate  thing  is  Niagara  Falls." 

Then  Ryerson  gave  me  my  first  hint  of  a  brilliant 
coup  that  had  been  preparing  for  months  by  the 
Committee  of  Twenty-one  and  the  American  high 
command,  its  purpose  being  to  strike  a  deadly  and 
spectacular  blow  at  the  German  fleet. 

"This  is  the  closest  kind  of  a  secret,  it's  the  great 
American  hope;  but  the  Germans  know  all  about 
it,"  he  declared. 

"Go  on." 

"It's  a  big  air-ship,  the  America,  a  super-Zep 
pelin,  six  hundred  feet  long,  with  apparatus  for 
steering  small  submarines  by  radio  control — no  men 
aboard.  Understand?" 

"You  mean  no  men  aboard  the  submarine?" 

"Of  course.    There  will  be  a  whole  crew  on  the 

air-ship.    Nicola  Tesla  and  John  Hays  Hammond, 

Jr.,  worked  out  the  idea,  and  Edison  was  to  give  the 

last  touches;  but  as  Edison  is  a  German  prisoner, 

254 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  SPY 


they  can't  wait  for  him.  They  are  going  to  try  the 
thing  on  New  Year's  night  against  the  German 
dreadnought  Wilhelm  II  in  Boston  Harbour." 

"Blow  up  the  Wilhelm  II  f" 

"Yes,  but  the  Germans  are  warned  in  advance. 
You  can't  beat  their  underground  information  bu 
reau.  They're  going  to  strike  first." 

"Where  is  this  air-ship?" 

"On  Grand  Island,  in  the  Niagara  River,  all  in 
flated,  ready  to  sail,  but  she  never  will  sail  unless 
we  get  busy.  After  to-morrow  night  there  won't  be 
any  America" 

In  the  face  of  this  critical  situation,  I  saw  that 
we  must  postpone  our  trip  to  Richmond  and,  hav 
ing  obtained  from  Ryerson  full  details  of  the  Ger 
man  plot  to  destroy  the  America,  I  took  the  first 
train  for  Niagara  Falls — after  arranging  with  my 
friend  to  rejoin  him  in  Pittsburg  a  few  days  later 
— and  was  able  to  give  warning  to  Colonel  Charles 
D.  Kilbourne  of  Fort  Niagara  in  time  to  avert  this 
catastrophe. 

The  Germans  knew  that  Grand  Island  was 
guarded  by  United  States  troops  and  that  the  river 
surrounding  it  was  patrolled  by  sentry  launches; 
but  the  island  was  large,  sixteen  miles  long  and 
seven  miles  wide,  and  under  cover  of  darkness  it  was 
a  simple  matter  for  swimmers  to  pass  unobserved 
from  shore  to  shore. 

On  the  night  of  December  30th,  1921,  in  spite  of 
the  cold,  five  hundred  German  spies  had  volunteered 

255 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

to  risk  their  lives  in  this  adventure.  They  were 
to  swim  silently  from  the  American  and  Canadian 
shores,  each  man  pushing  before  him  a  powerful 
fire  bomb  protected  in  a  water-proof  case;  then, 
having  reached  the  island,  these  five  hundred  were 
to  advance  stealthily  upon  the  hangar  where  the 
great  air-ship,  fully  inflated,  was  straining  at  her 
moorings.  When  the  rush  came,  at  a  pre-arranged 
signal,  many  would  be  killed  by  American  soldiers 
surrounding  the  building,  but  some  would  get 
through  and  accomplish  their  mission.  One  suc 
cessful  fire  bomb  would  do  the  work. 

Against  this  danger  Colonel  Kilbourne  provided 
in  a  simple  way.  Instead  of  sending  more  troops  to 
guard  the  island,  which  might  have  aroused  Ger 
man  suspicions,  he  arranged  to  have  two  hundred 
boys,  members  of  the  Athletic  League  of  the  Buf 
falo  Public  Schools,  go  to  Grand  Island  appar 
ently  for  skating  and  coasting  parties.  It  was 
brisk  vacation  weather  and  no  one  thought  it 
strange  that  the  little  ferry  boat  from  Buffalo  car 
ried  bands  of  lively  youngsters  across  the  river  for 
these  seasonable  pleasures.  It  was  not  observed 
that  the  boat  also  carried  rifles  and  ammunition 
which  the  boys  had  learned  to  use,  in  months  of 
drill  and  strenuous  target  practice,  with  the  skill 
of  regulars. 

There  followed  busy  hours  on  Grand  Island  as 
we  made  ready  for  the  crisis.  About  midnight, 
five  hundred  Germans,  true  to  their  vow,  landed 
256 


CONFESSIONS  OF  A  SPY 


at  various  points,  and  crept  forward  through  the 
darkness,  carrying  their  bombs.  As  they  reached 
a  circle  a  thousand  yards  from  the  huge  hangar 
shed  they  passed  unwittingly  two  hundred  youthful 
riflemen  who  had  dug  themselves  in  under  snow 
and  branches  and  were  waiting,  thrilling  for  the 
word  that  would  show  what  American  boys  can 
do  for  their  country.  Two  hundred  American  boys 
on  the  thousand  yard  circle!  A  hundred  American 
soldiers  with  rifles  and  machine  guns  at  the  hangar! 
And  the  Germans  between! 

We  had  learned  from  Ryerson  that  the  enemy 
would  make  their  rush  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
the  signal  being  a  siren  shriek  from  the  Canadian 
shore,  so  at  a  quarter  before  two,  knowing  that 
the  Germans  were  surely  in  the  trap,  Colonel  Kil- 
bourne  gave  the  word,  and,  suddenly,  a  dozen 
search-lights  swept  the  darkness  with  pitiless  glare. 
American  rifles  spoke  from  behind  log  shelters, 
Maxims  rattled  their  deadly  blast,  and  the  Germans, 
caught  between  two  fires,  fled  in  confusion,  drop 
ping  their  bombs.  As  they  approached  the  thou 
sand-yard  line  they  found  new  enemies  blocking 
their  way,  keen-eyed  youths  whose  bullets  went 
true  to  the  mark.  And  the  end  of  it  was,  leaving 
aside  dead  and  wounded,  that  two  hundred  Buf 
falo  schoolboys  made  prisoners  of  the  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty  German  veterans! 

And    the    great    seven-million    dollar    air-ship 
America,  with  all  her  radio  mysteries,  was  left  un- 

257 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

harmed,  ready  to  sail  forth  the  next  night,  New 
Year's  Eve,  and  make  her  attack  upon  the  super- 
dreadnought  Wilhelm  II,  on  January  1,  1922.  I 
prayed  that  this  would  be  a  happier  year  for  the 
United  States  than  1921  had  been. 


258 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

NOVEL  ATTACK  OF  AMERICAN  AIRSHIP  UPON  GERMAN 
SUPER-DREADNOUGHT 

I  COME  now  to  the  period  of  my  great  adventures 
beginning  on  New  Year's  Day,  1922,  when  I  sailed 
from  Buffalo  aboard  the  airship  America  on  her  ex 
pedition  against  the  German  fleet.  For  the  first 
time  in  my  modest  career  I  found  myself  a  figure 
of  nation-wide  interest,  »ot  through  any  particular 
merit  or  bravery  of  my  own,  but  by  reason  of  a 
series  of  fortunate  accidents.  I  may  say  that  I 
became  a  hero  in  spite  of  myself. 

In  recognition  of  the  service  I  had  rendered  in 
helping  to  save  the  great  airship  from  German 
spies,  I  had  been  granted  permission,  at  General 
Wood's  recommendation,  to  sail  as  a  passenger 
aboard  this  dreadnought  of  the  skies  and  to  per 
sonally  witness  her  novel  attack  with  torpedoes  low 
ered  from  the  airship  and  steered  from  the  height 
of  a  mile  or  two  by  radio  control.  Never  before 
had  a  newspaper  correspondent  received  such  a 
privilege  and  I  was  greatly  elated,  not  realising 
what  extraordinary  perils  I  was  to  face  in  this  dis 
charge  of  my  duty. 

259 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

I  was  furthermore  privileged  to  be  present  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty-one  held  on 
the  morning  of  January  1st,  1922,  at  the  Hotel  Lenox 
in  Buffalo.  Various  details  of  our  airship  expedi 
tion  were  discussed  and  there  was  revealed  to  me 
an  important  change  in  the  America's  strategy 
which  I  will  come  to  presently. 

Surveying  the  general  military  situation,  John 
Wanamaker  read  reports  showing  extraordinary 
progress  in  military  preparedness  all  over  the  coun 
try,  especially  in  states  like  Ohio  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  where  the  women,  recently  victorious  in  their 
suffrage  fight,  were  able  to  make  their  patriotic  zeal 
felt  in  aggressive  legislation.  Strange  to  say,  Amer 
ican  wives  and  mothers  were  the  leaders  in  urging 
compulsory  physical  and  military  training,  a  year 
of  it,  on  the  Swiss  plan,  for  all  American  young  men 
of  twenty  and  a  month  of  it  every  five  years  after 
wards  for  all  men  up  to  fifty. 

The  Committee  were  in  the  midst  of  a  discus 
sion  of  Charles  M.  Schwab's  plan  providing  that 
American  soldiers  carry  armour,  a  helmet,  breast 
plate  and  abdominal  covering  of  light  but  highly 
tempered  steel,  when  there  came  a  dramatic  in 
terruption.  A  guard  at  the  door  of  the  Council 
Room  entered  to  say  that  Mr.  Henry  A.  Wise  Wood, 
President  of  the  Aero  Club  of  America,  was  out 
side  with  an  urgent  communication  for  the  Com 
mittee.  Mr.  Wise  Wood  was  at  once  received  and 
informed  us  that  he  had  journeyed  from  Pittsburg 
260 


ATTACK  BY  AIRSHIP 


bearing  news  that  might  have  an  important  bear 
ing  upon  the  airship  expedition. 

"As  you  know,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "we  have  a 
wireless  station  in  the  tower  of  our  new  Aero  Club 
building  in  Pittsburg.  Yesterday  afternoon  at  three 
o'clock  the  operator  received  a  message  addressed 
to  me.  It  was  very  faint,  almost  a  whisper  through 
the  air,  but  he  finally  got  it  down  and  he  is  posi 
tive  it  is  correct.  This  message,  gentlemen,  is  from 
Thomas  A.  Edison." 

"Edison!"  exclaimed  Andrew  Carnegie,  "but  he 
is  a  prisoner  of  the  Germans." 

"Undoubtedly,"  agreed  Mr.  Wise  Wood,  "but  it 
has  occurred  to  me  that  the  Germans  may  have 
allowed  Mr.  Edison  to  fit  up  a  laboratory  for  his 
experiments.  They  would  treat  such  a  man  with 
every  consideration." 

"They  would  not  allow  him  to  communicate  with 
his  friends,"  objected  Cornelius  Vanderbilt. 

"He  may  not  have  asked  permission,"  laughed 
George  W.  Perkins.  "He  may  have  rigged  up  some 
secret  contrivance  for  sending  wireless  messages." 

"Why  don't  you  read  what  he  says?"  put  in  J.  P. 
Morgan. 

Mr.  Wise  Wood  drew  a  folded  yellow  paper  from 
his  pocket  and  continued:  "This  message  is  un 
questionably  from  Mr.  Edison,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  signed  Thaled.  You  will  agree  with  me, 
gentlemen,  that  Thaled  is  a  code  word  formed  by 

261 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

putting  together  the  first  two  letters  of  the  three 
names,  Thomas  Alva  Edison." 

"Very  clever!"  nodded  Asa  G.  Candler. 

"I  don't  see  that,"  frowned  John  D.  Rockefeller. 
"If  Mr.  Edison  wished  to  send  Mr.  Wise  Wood  a 
message  why  should  he  use  a  misleading  signa 
ture?" 

"It's  perfectly  clear,"  explained  James  J.  Hill. 
"Mr.  Edison  has  disguised  his  signature  sufficiently 
to  throw  off  the  track  any  German  wireless  opera 
tor  who  might  catch  the  message,  while  leaving  it 
understandable  to  us." 

"Read  the  message,"  repeated  J.  P.  Morgan. 
Whereupon  Mr.  Wise  Wood  opened  the  yellow  sheet 
and  read: 

Strongly  disapprove  attack  against  German  fleet 
by  airship  America.  Satisfied  method  radio  control 
not  sufficiently  perfected  and  effort  doomed  to  fail 
ure.  Have  worked  out  sure  and  simple  way  to  de 
stroy  fleet.  Details  shortly  or  deliver  personally. 

THALED. 

This  message  provoked  fresh  discussion  and 
there  were  some,  including  Elihu  Root,  who  thought 
that  Mr.  Edison  had  never  sent  this  message.  It 
was  a  shrewd  trick  of  the  Germans  to  prevent  the 
America  from  sailing.  If  Mr.  Edison  could  tell 
us  so  much  why  did  he  not  tell  us  more?  Why  did 
he  not  say  where  he  was  a  prisoner?  And  ex- 
262 


ATTACK  BY  AIRSHIP 


plain  on  what  he  rested  his  hopes  of  communicat 
ing  with  us  in  person. 

"Gentlemen,"  concluded  Mr.  Root,  "we  know  that 
Germany  is  actually  embarking  a  new  army  of  half 
a  million  men  to  continue  her  invasion  of  America. 
Already  she  holds  our  Atlantic  seaboard,  our  proud 
est  cities,  and  within  a  fortnight  she  will  strike 
again.  I  say  we  must  strike  first.  We  have  a 
chance  in  Boston  Harbour  and  we  must  take  it.  This 
single  coup  may  decide  the  war  by  showing  the  in 
vader  that  at  last  we  are  ready.  Gentlemen,  I  move 
that  the  airship  America  sail  to-night  for  Boston 
Harbour,  as  arranged." 

I  longed  to  step  forward  to  tell  what  I  knew  about 
Edison,  how  he  was  a  prisoner  in  Richmond,  Vir 
ginia,  and  how  an  effort  was  actually  on  foot  to 
rescue  him,  but  I  had  promised  Miss  Ryerson  not 
to  betray  her  brother's  shame  and  was  forced  to 
hold  my  tongue.  Besides,  I  could  not  be  sure 
whether  this  wireless  message  did  or  did  not  come 
from  Edison. 

The  Committee  finally  decided  that  the  America 
should  sail  that  evening,  but  should  change  her 
point  of  attack  so  as  to  take  the  enemy  unpre 
pared,  if  possible ;  in  other  words,  we  were  to  strike 
not  at  the  German  warships  in  Boston  Harbour,  but 
at  the  great  super-dreadnought  Bismarck,  flagship 
of  the  hostile  fleet,  which  was  lying  in  the  upper 
bay  off  New  York  City. 

I  pass  over  the  incidents  of  our  flight  to  Man- 

263 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

hattan  and  come  to  the  historic  aerial  struggle  over 
New  York  harbour  in  which  I  nearly  lost  my  life. 
The  America  was  convoyed  by  a  fleet  of  a  hundred 
swift  and  powerful  battle  aeroplanes  and  we  felt 
sure  that  these  would  be  more  than  able  to  cope 
with  any  aeroplane  force  that  the  Germans  could 
send  against  us.  And  to  avoid  danger  from  anti 
aircraft  guns  we  made  a  wide  detour  to  the  south, 
crossing  New  Jersey  on  about  the  line  o£  Asbury 
Park  and  then  sailing  to  the  north  above  the  open 
sea,  so  that  we  approached  New  York  harbour  from 
the  Atlantic  side.  At  this  time  (it  was  a  little  after 
midnight)  we  were  sailing  at  a  height  of  two  miles 
with  our  aeroplanes  ten  miles  behind  us  so  that 
their  roaring  propellers  might  not  betray  us  and, 
for  a  time,  as  we  drifted  silently  off  Rockaway  Beach 
it  seemed  that  we  would  be  successful  in  our  pur 
pose  to  strike  without  warning. 

There,  just  outside  the  Narrows,  lay  the  Bis 
marck,  blazing  with  the  lights  of  some  New  Year's 
festivity  and  resounding  with  music.  I  remember 
a  shrinking  of  unprofessional  regret  at  the  thought 
of  suddenly  destroying  so  fair  and  happy  a  thing. 

I  was  presently  drawn  from  these  meditations 
by  quick  movements  of  the  airship  crew  and  a  shrill 
voice  of  command. 

"Ready  to  lower!  Let  her  go!"  shouted  Captain 
Nicola  Tesla,  who  had  volunteered  for  this  service. 

"Bzzz!"  sang  the  deck  winches  as  they  swiftly 
unrolled  twin  lengths  of  piano  wire  that  supported 
264 


a  pendant  torpedo  with  its  radio  appliances  and  its 
red,  white  and  green  control  lights  shining  far  be 
low  us  in  the  void. 

"Easy!  Throw  on  your  winch  brakes,"  ordered 
Tesla,  studying  his  dials  for  depth. 

A  strong  southeast  wind  set  the  wires  twisting 
dangerously,  but,  by  skilful  manceuvring,  we 
launched  the  first  torpedo  safely  from  the  height 
of  half  a  mile  and,  with  a  thrill  of  joy,  I  followed 
her  lights  (masked  from  the  enemy)  as  they  moved 
swiftly  over  the  bay  straight  towards  the  flagship. 
The  torpedo  was  running  under  perfect  wireless  con 
trol.  Tesla  smiled  at  his  keyboard. 

Alas!  Our  joy  was  soon  changed  to  disappoint 
ment.  Our  first  torpedo  missed  the  Bismarck  by  a 
few  yards,  went  astern  of  her  because  at  the  last  mo 
ment  she  got  her  engines  going  and  moved  ahead. 
Somehow  the  Germans  had  received  warning  of 
their  danger. 

Our  second  torpedo  wandered  vainly  over  the 
ocean  because  we  could  not  follow  her  guide  lights, 
the  enemy  blinding  us  with  the  concentrated  glare 
of  about  twenty  of  their  million-candle  power 
searchlights. 

And  our  third  torpedo  was  cut  off  from  radio 
control  because  we  suddenly  found  ourselves  sur 
rounded  by  the  two  fleets  of  battling  aeroplanes, 
caught  between  two  fires,  ours  and  the  enemy's, 
and  were  obliged  to  run  for  our  lives  with  an  elec 
tric  generator  shattered  by  shrapnel.  I  was  so 

265 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

busy  caring  for  two  of  our  crew  who  were  wounded 
that  I  had  no  time  to  observe  this  thrilling  battle 
in  the  air. 

It  was  over  quickly,  I  remember,  and  our  Ameri 
can  aeroplanes,  vastly  superior  to  the  opposing 
fleet,  had  gained  a  decisive  victory,  so  that  we  were 
just  beginning  to  breathe  freely  when  an  extraordi 
nary  thing  happened,  a  rare  act  of  heroism,  though 
I  say  it  for  the  Germans. 

There  came  a  signal,  the  dropping  of  a  fire  bomb 
with  many  colours,  and  instantly  the  remnant  of 
the  enemy's  air  strength,  four  biplanes  and  a  lit 
tle  yellow-striped  monoplane,  started  at  us,  in  a 
last  desperate  effort,  with  all  the  speed  of  their 
engines.  Our  aerial  fleet  saw  the  manoeuvre  and 
swept  towards  the  biplanes,  intercepting  them,  one 
by  one,  and  tearing  them  to  pieces  with  sweep 
ing  volleys  of  our  machine  guns,  but  the  little  mono 
plane,  swifter  than  the  rest,  dodged  and  circled  and 
finally  found  an  opening  towards  the  airship  and 
came  through  it  at  two  miles  a  minute,  straight  for 
us  and  for  death,  throwing  fire  bombs  and  yelling 
for  the  Kaiser. 

"Save  yourselves!"  shouted  Tesla  as  the  enemy 
craft  ripped  into  our  great  yellow  gas  bag. 

Bombs  were  exploding  all  about  us  and  in  an  in 
stant  the  America  was  in  flames.  We  knew  that 
our  effort  had  failed. 

As  the  stricken  airship,  burning  fiercely,  sank 
rapidly  through  the  night,  I  realised  that  I  must 
266 


ATTACK  BY  AIRSHIP 


fight  for  my  life  in  the  ice  cold  waters  of  the  bay. 
I  hate  cold  water  and,  being  but  an  indifferent 
swimmer,  I  hesitated  whether  to  throw  off  my  coat 
and  shoes,  and,  having  finally  decided,  I  had  only 
time  to  rid  myself  of  one  shoe  and  my  coat  when 
I  saw  the  surging  swells  directly  beneath  me  and 
leapt  overside  just  in  time  to  escape  the  crash  of 
blazing  wreckage. 

Dazed  by  the  blow  of  a  heavy  spar  and  the  shock 
of  immersion,  I  remember  nothing  more  until  I 
found  myself  on  dry  land,  hours  later,  with  kind 
friends  ministering  to  me.  It  seems  that  a  party  of 
motor  boat  rescuers  from  Brooklyn  worked  over  me 
for  hours  before  I  returned  to  consciousness  and  I 
lay  for  days  afterward  in  a  state  of  languid  weakness, 
indifferent  to  everything. 


267 


CHAPTER   XXV 

DESPERATE    EFFORT    TO    RESCUE    THOMAS    A.    EDISON 
FROM    THE    GERMANS 

I  WISH  I  might  detail  my  experiences  during 
the  next  fortnight,  how  I  was  guarded  from  the 
Germans  (they  had  put  a  price  on  my  head)  by 
kind  friends  in  Brooklyn,  notably  Mrs.  Anne  P.  L. 
Field,  the  Sing-Sing  angel,  who  contrived  my  escape 
through  the  German  lines  of  occupation  with  the 
help  of  a  swift  motor  boat  and  two  of  her  convict 
proteges. 

We  landed  in  Newark  one  dark  night  after  tak 
ing  desperate  chances  on  the  bay  and  running  a 
gauntlet  of  German  sentries  who  fired  at  us  re 
peatedly.  Then,  thanks  to  my  old  friend,  Francis 
J.  Swayze  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  I 
was  passed  along  across  northern  New  Jersey, 
through  Dover,  where  "Pop"  Losee,  the  eloquent 
ice  man  evangelist,  saved  me  from  Prussians  guard 
ing  the  Picatinny  arsenal,  then  through  Allentown, 
Pa.,  where  Editor  Roth  swore  to  a  suspicious  Ger 
man  colonel  that  I  was  one  of  his  reporters,  and, 
finally,  by  way  of  Harrisburg  to  Pittsburg,  where 
at  last  I  was  safe. 
268 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

To  my  delight  I  found  Randolph  Ryerson  anx 
iously  awaiting  my  arrival  and  eager  to  proceed 
with  our  plan  to  rescue  Edison.  We  set  forth  for 
Richmond  the  next  day,  January  16th,  1922,  in 
a  racing  automobile  and  proceeded  with  the  utmost 
caution,  crossing  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia 
and  Virginia  by  night  to  avoid  the  sentries  of  both 
armies.  Twice,  being  challenged,  we  drove  on  un 
heeding  at  furious  speed  and  escaped  in  the  dark 
ness,  although  shots  were  fired  after  us. 

As  morning  broke  on  January  20th  we  had  our 
first  view  of  the  seven-hilled  city  on  the  James, 
with  its  green  islands  and  its  tumbling  muddy  wa 
ters.  We  knew  that  Richmond  was  held  by  the 
Germans,  and  as  we  approached  their  lines  I  re 
alised  the  difficulty  of  my  position,  for  I  was  now 
obliged  to  trust  Ryerson  absolutely  and  let  him 
make  use  of  his  credentials  from  the  Crown  Prince 
which  presented  him  as  an  American  spy  in  the 
German  service.  He  introduced  me  as  his  friend  and 
a  person  to  be  absolutely  trusted,  which  practically 
made  me  out  a  spy  also.  It  was  evident  that,  unless 
we  succeeded  in  our  mission,  I  had  compromised  my 
self  gravely.  Ryerson  was  reassuring,  however,  and 
declared  that  everything  would  be  all  right. 

We  took  a  fine  suite  at  the  Hotel  Jefferson,  where 
we  found  German  officers  in  brilliant  uniforms  stroll 
ing  about  the  great  rotunda  or  refreshing  them 
selves  with  pipes  and  beer  in  the  palm  room  near 
the  white  marble  statue  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

269 


"If  you'll  excuse  me  now  for  a  few  hours,"  said 
Ryerson,  who  seemed  rather  nervous,  "I  will  get 
the  information  we  need  from  some  of  these  fel 
lows.  Let  us  meet  here  at  dinner." 

During  the  afternoon  I  drove  about  this  peaceful 
old  city  with  its  gardens  and  charming  homes  and 
was  allowed  to  approach  the  threatening  siege  guns 
which  the  Germans  had  set  up  on  the  broad  es 
planade  of  Monument  Avenue  between  the  eques 
trian  statue  of  Robert  E.  Lee  and  the  tall  white 
shaft  that  bears  the  heroic  figure  of  Jefferson  Da 
vis.  These  guns  were  trained  upon  the  gothic  tower 
of  the  city  hall  and  upon  the  cherished  grey  pile  of 
the  Capitol,  with  its  massive  columns  and  its  shaded 
park  where  grey  squirrels  play  about  the  famous 
statue  of  George  Washington. 

My  driver  told  me  thrilling  stories  of  the  fighting 
here  when  Field  Marshal  von  Mackensen  marched 
his  army  into  Richmond.  Alas  for  this  proud  South 
ern  city!  What  could  she  hope  to  do  against  150,000 
German  soldiers?  For  the  sake  of  her  women  and 
children  she  decided  to  do  nothing  officially,  but  the 
Richmond  "Blues"  had  their  own  ideas  and  a  crowd 
of  Irish  patriots  from  Murphy's  Hotel  had  theirs, 
and  when  the  German  army,  with  bands  playing 
and  eagles  flying,  came  tramping  down  Broad  Street, 
they  were  halted  presently  by  four  companies  of 
eighty  men  each  in  blue  uniforms  and  white  plumed 
hats  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  statues  of  Stonewall 
Jackson  and  Henry  Clay  ready  to  die  here  on  this 
270 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

pleasant  autumn  morning  rather  than  have  this 
most  sacred  spot  in  the  South  desecrated  by  an 
invader.  And  die  here  they  did  or  fell  wounded, 
the  whole  body  of  Richmond  "Blues,"  under  Colonel 
W.  J.  Kemp,  while  their  band  played  "Dixie"  and 
the  old  Confederate  flags  waved  over  them. 

As  for  the  Irishmen,  it  seems  that  they  marched 
in  a  wild  and  cursing  mob  to  the  churchyard  of  old 
St.  John's  where  Patrick  Henry  hurled  his  famous 
defiance  at  the  British  and  in  the  same  spirit — 
"Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death" — they  fought 
until  they  could  fight  no  longer. 

As  we  drove  through  East  Franklin  Street  I  was 
startled  to  see  a  German  flag  flying  over  the  hon 
oured  home  of  Robert  E.  Lee  and  a  German  sentry 
on  guard  before  the  door.  I  was  told  that  promi 
nent  citizens  of  Richmond  were  held  here  as  hos 
tages,  among  these  being  Governor  Richard  Evelyn 
Byrd,  John  K.  Branch,  Oliver  J.  Sands,  William  H. 
White,  Bishop  R.  A.  Gibson,  Bishop  O'Connell, 
Samuel  Cohen  and  Mayor  Jacob  Umlauf  who,  in 
spite  of  his  German  descent,  had  proved  himself 
a  loyal  American. 

I  finished  the  afternoon  at  a  Red  Cross  bazaar 
held  in  the  large  auditorium  on  Gary  Street  under 
the  patronage  of  Mrs.  Norman  B.  Randolph,  Mrs. 
B.  B.  Valentine,  Miss  Jane  Rutherford  and  other 
prominent  Richmond  ladies.  I  made  several  pur 
chases,  including  a  cane  made  from  a  plank  of 

271 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Libby  prison  and  a  stone  paper  weight  from  Edgar 
Allan  Poe's  boyhood  home  on  Fifth  Street. 

Leaving  the  bazaar,  I  turned  aimlessly  into  a 
quiet  shaded  avenue  and  was  wondering  what  prog 
ress  Ryerson  might  be  making  with  his  investiga 
tions,  when  I  suddenly  saw  the  man  himself  on 
the  other  side  of  the  way,  talking  earnestly  with 
a  young  woman  of  striking  beauty  and  of  foreign 
appearance.  She  might  have  been  a  Russian  or  an 
Austrian. 

There  was  something  in  this  unexpected  meeting 
that  filled  me  with  a  vague  alarm.  Who  was  this 
woman?  Why  was  Ryerson  spending  time  with 
her  that  was  needed  for  our  urgent  business?  I 
felt  indignant  at  this  lack  of  seriousness  on  his  part 
and,  unobserved,  I  followed  the  couple  as  they 
climbed  a  hill  leading  to  a  little  park  overlooking 
the  river,  where  they  seated  themselves  on  a  bench 
and  continued  their  conversation. 

Presently  I  passed  so  close  to  them  that  Ryerson 
could  not  fail  to  see  me  and,  pausing  at  a  short  dis 
tance,  I  looked  back  at  him.  He  immediately  ex 
cused  himself  to  his  fair  companion  and  joined  me. 
He  was  evidently  annoyed. 

"Wait  here,"  he  whispered.    "I'll  be  back." 

With  that  he  rejoined  the  lady  and  immediately 
escorted  her  down  the  hill.  It  was  fully  an  hour 
before  he  returned  and  I  saw  he  had  regained  his 
composure. 

272 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

"I  suppose  you  are  wondering  who  that  lady 
was?"  he  began  lightly. 

"Well,  yes,  just  a  little.  Is  she  the  woman  you 
told  me  about — the  countess?" 

"No,  no!  But  she's  a  very  remarkable  person," 
he  explained.  "She  is  known  in  every  capital  of 
Europe.  They  say  the  German  government  pays 
her  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year." 

"She's  quite  a  beauty,"  said  I. 

He  looked  at  me  sharply.  "I  suppose  she  is, 
but  that's  not  the  point.  She's  at  the  head  of  the 
German  secret  service  work  in  America.  She  knows 
all  about  Edison." 

"Oh!" 

"She  has  told  me  where  he  is.  That's  why  we 
came  up  here.  Do  you  see  that  building?" 

I  followed  his  gesture  across  the  valley  and  on 
a  hill  opposite  saw  a  massive  brick  structure  with 
many  small  windows,  and  around  it  a  high  white 
painted  wall. 

"Well?" 

"That's  the  state  penitentiary.  Edison  is  there 
in  the  cell  that  was  once  occupied  by  Aaron  Burr 
— you  remember — when  he  was  tried  for  treason?" 

All  this  was  said  in  so  straightforward  a  manner 
that  I  felt  ashamed  of  my  doubts  and  congratulated 
my  friend  warmly  on  his  zeal  and  success. 

"Just  the  same,  you  didn't  like  it  when  you  saw 
me  with  that  woman — did  you?"  he  laughed. 

I  acknowledged  my  uneasiness  and,  as  we  walked 

273 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

back  to  the  hotel,  spoke  earnestly  with  Ryerson 
about  the  grave  responsibility  that  rested  upon  us, 
upon  me  equally  with  him.  I  begged  him  to  justify 
his  sister's  faith  and  love  and  to  rise  now  with  all 
his  might  to  this  supreme  duty  and  opportunity. 

He  seemed  moved  by  my  words  and  assured  me 
that  he  would  do  the  right  thing,  but  when  I  pressed 
him  to  outline  our  immediate  course  of  action,  he 
became  evasive  and  irritable  and  declared  that  he 
was  tired  and  needed  a  night's  rest  before  going  into 
these  details. 

As  I  left  him  at  the  door  of  his  bedroom  I  no 
ticed  a  bulky  and  strongly  corded  package  on  the 
table  and  asked  what  it  was,  whereupon,  in  a  flash 
of  anger,  he  burst  into  a  tirade  of  reproach,  saying 
that  I  did  not  trust  him  and  was  prying  into  his 
personal  affairs,  all  of  which  increased  my  sus 
picions. 

"I  must  insist  on  knowing  what  is  in  that  pack 
age,"  I  said  quietly.    "You  needn't  tell  me  now,  be 
cause  you're  not  yourself,  but  in  the  morning  we 
will  take  up  this  whole  affair.    Good-night." 
,     "Good-night,"  he  answered  sullenly. 

Here  was  a  bad  situation,  and  for  hours  I  did  not 
sleep,  asking  myself  if  I  had  made  a  ghastly  mis 
take  in  trusting  Ryerson.  Was  his  sister's  sacrifice 
to  be  in  vain?  Was  the  man  a  traitor  still,  in  spite 
of  everything? 

Towards  three  o'clock  I  fell  into  fear-haunted 
dreams,  but  was  presently  awakened  by  a  ouick 
274 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

knocking  at  my  door  and,  opening,  I  came  face  to 
face  with  my  companion,  who  stood  there  fully 
dressed. 

"For  God's  sake  let  me  come  in."  He  looked 
about  the  room  nervously.  "Have  you  anything  to 
drink?" 

I  produced  a  flask  of  Scotch  whiskey  and  he  filled 
half  a  glass  and  gulped  it  down.  Then  he  drew 
a  massive  iron  key  from  his  pocket  and  threw  it 
on  the  bed. 

"Whatever  happens,  keep  that.  Don't  let  me 
have  it." 

I  picked  up  the  key  and  looked  at  it  curiously. 
It  was  about  four  inches  long  and  very  heavy. 

"Why  don't  you  want  me  to  let  you  have  it?" 

"Because  it  unlocks  a  door  that  would  lead  me 
to — hell,"  he  cried  fiercely.  Then  he  reached  for 
the  flask. 

"No,  no!  You've  had  enough,"  I  said,  and  drew 
the  bottle  out  of  his  reach.  "Randolph,  you  know 
I'm  your  friend,  don't  you?  Look  at  me!  Now 
what's  the  matter?  What  door  are  you  talking 
about?" 

"The  door  to  a  wing  of  the  prison  where  Edi 
son  is." 

"You  said  he  was  in  Aaron  Burr's  cell." 

"He's  been  moved  to  another  part  of  the  build 
ing.  That  woman  arranged  it." 

"Why?" 

275 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

He  looked  at  me  in  a  silence  of  shame,  then  he 
forced  himself  to  speak. 

"So  I  could  carry  out  my  orders  " 

"Orders?     Not — not  German  orders?" 

He  nodded  stolidly. 

"I'm  under  her  orders — it's  the  same  thing.  I 
can't  help  it.  I  can't  stand  against  her." 

"Then  she  is  the  countess?" 

He  bowed  his  head  slowly. 

"Yes.  I  meant  to  play  fair.  I  would  have  played 
fair,  but — the  Germans  put  this  woman  on  our 
trail  when  we  left  Chicago — they  mistrusted  some 
thing  and "  with  a  gesture  of  despair,  "she 

found  me  in  Pittsburg — she — she's  got  me.    I  don't 
care  for  anything  in  the  world  but  that  woman." 

"Randolph!" 

"It's  true.  I  don't  want  to  live — without  her. 
You  needn't  cock  up  your  eyes  like  that.  I'd  go 
back  to  her  now — yes,  by  God,  I'd  do  this  thing  now, 
if  I  could." 

He  had  worked  himself  into  a  frenzy  of  rage  and 
pain,  and  I  sat  still  until  he  grew  calm  again. 

"What  thing?    What  is  it  she  wants  you  to  do?" 

"Get  rid  of  you  to  begin  with,"  he  snapped  out. 
"It's  easy  enough.  We  go  to  the  prison — this  key 
lets  us  in.  I  leave  you  in  the  cell  with  Edison  and 
— you  saw  that  package  in  my  room?  It's  a  bomb. 
I  explode  it  under  the  cell  and — there  you  are!" 

"You  promised  to  do  this?" 

"Yes!     I'm  to  get  five  thousand  dollars." 
276 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

"But  you  didn't  do  it,  you  stopped  in  time,"  I 
said  soothingly.  "You've  told  me  the  truth  now 
and — we'll  see  what  we  can  do  about  it." 

He  scowled  at  me. 

"You're  crazy.  We  can't  do  anything  about  it. 
The  Germans  are  in  control  of  Richmond.  They're 
watching  this  hotel." 

Ryerson  glanced  at  his  watch. 

"Half-past  three.    I  have  four  hours  to  live." 

"What!" 

"They'll  come  for  me  at  seven  o'clock  when  they 
find  I  haven't  carried  out  my  orders,  and  I'll  be 
taken  to  the  prison  yard  and — shot  or — hanged. 
It's  the  best  thing  that  can  happen  to  me,  but — 
I'm  sorry  for  you." 

"See  here,  Ryerson,"  I  broke  in.  "If  you're  such 
a  rotten  coward  and  liar  and  sneak  as  you  say  you 
are,  what  are  you  doing  here?  Why  didn't  you  go 
ahead  with  your  bomb  business?" 

He  sat  rocking  back  and  forth  on  the  side  of  the 
bed,  with  his  head  bent  forward,  his  eyes  closed 
and  his  lips  moving  in  a  sort  of  thick  mumbling. 

"I've  tried  to,  but — it's  my  sister.  God!  She 
won't  leave  me  alone.  She  said  she'd  be  praying  for 
me  and — all  night  I've  seen  her  face.  I've  seen  her 
when  we  were  kids  together,  playing  around  in  the 
old  home — with  Mother  there  and — oh,  Christ!" 

I  pass  over  a  desperate  hour  that  followed.  Ryer 
son  tried  to  kill  himself  and,  when  I  took  the 
weapon  from  him,  he  begged  me  to  put  an  end  to 

277 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

his  sufferings.  Never  until  now  had  I  realised  how 
hard  is  the  way  of  the  transgressor. 

I  have  often  wondered  how  this  terrible  night 
would  have  ended  had  not  Providence  suddenly  in 
tervened.  The  city  hall  clock  had  just  tolled  five 
when  there  came  a  volley  of  shots  from  the  direc 
tion  of  Monument  Avenue. 

"What's  that?"  cried  my  poor  friend,  his  haggard 
face  lighting. 

We  rushed  to  the  window,  where  the  pink  and 
purple  lights  of  dawn  were  spreading  over  the 
spires  and  gardens  of  the  sleeping  city. 

The  shots  grew  in  volume  and  presently  we  heard 
the  dull  boom  of  a  siege  gun,  then  another  and 
another. 

"It's  a  battle!  They're  bombarding  the  city. 
Look!"  He  pointed  towards  Capitol  Square. 
"They've  struck  the  tower  of  the  city  hall.  And 
over  there!  The  gas  works!"  He  swept  his  arm 
towards  an  angry  red  glow  that  showed  where  an 
other  shell  had  found  its  target. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  burning  of 
Richmond  (for  the  third  time  in  its  history)  on  this 
fateful  day,  January  20th,  1922,  nor  to  detail  the 
horrors  that  attended  the  destruction  of  the  en 
emy's  force  of  occupation.  Historians  are  agreed 
that  the  Germans  must  be  held  blameless  for  firing 
on  the  city,  since  they  naturally  supposed  this  day 
break  attack  upon  their  own  lines  to  be  an  effort 
278 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

of  the  American  army  and  retaliated,  as  best  they 
could,  with  their  heavy  guns. 

It  was  days  before  the  whole  truth  was  known, 
although  I  cabled  the  London  Times  that  night,  ex 
plaining  that  the  American  army  had  nothing  to 
do  with  this  attack,  which  was  the  work  of  an 
unorganised  and  irresponsible  band  of  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  mountaineers  gathered  from  the 
wilds  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee.  They  were  moon-shiners,  feudists, 
hilly-billies,  small  farmers  and  basket-makers,  men 
of  lean  and  saturnine  appearance,  some  of  them 
horse  thieves,  pirates  of  the  forest  who  cared  little 
for  the  laws  of  God  or  man  and  fought  as  natu 
rally  as  they  breathed. 

These  men  came  without  flags,  without  officers, 
without  uniforms.  They  crawled  on  their  bellies 
and  carried  logs  as  shields.  They  knew  and  cared 
nothing  for  military  tactics  and  their  strategy  was 
that  of  the  wild  Indian.  They  fought  to  kill  and 
they  took  no  prisoners.  It  seems  that  a  Virginia 
mountain  girl  had  been  wronged  by  a  German  of 
ficer  and  that  was  enough. 

For  weeks  the  mountaineers  had  been  advancing 
stealthily  through  the  wilderness,  pushing  on  by 
night,  hiding  in  the  hills  and  forests  by  day;  and 
they  had  come  the  last  fifty  miles  on  foot,  leaving 
their  horses  back  in  the  hills.  They  were  armed 
with  Winchester  rifles,  with  old-time  squirrel  rifles, 
with  muzzle  loaders  having  long  octagonal  barrels 

279 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

and  fired  by  cups.  Some  carried  shot  guns  and  car 
tridges  stuffed  with  buckshot  and  some  poured  in 
buckshot  by  the  handful.  They  had  no  artillery 
and  they  needed  none. 

The  skill  in  marksmanship  of  these  men  is  be 
yond  belief,  there  is  nothing  like  it  in  the  world. 
With  a  rifle  they  will  shoot  off  a  turkey's  head  at 
a  hundred  yards  (this  is  a  common  amusement) 
and  as  boys,  when  they  go  after  squirrels,  they  are 
taught  to  hit  the  animals'  noses  only  so  as  not  to 
spoil  the  skins.  It  was  such  natural  fighters  as 
these  that  George  Washington  led  against  the 
French  and  the  Indians,  when  he  saved  the  wreck 
of  Braddock's  army. 

The  Germans  were  beaten  before  they  began  to 
fight.  They  were  surrounded  on  two  sides  before 
they  had  the  least  idea  that  an  enemy  was  near. 
Their  sentries  were  shot  down  before  they  could 
give  the  alarm  and  the  first  warning  of  danger  to 
the  sleeping  Teutons  was  the  furious  rush  of  ten 
thousand  wild  men  who  came  on  and  came  on  and 
came  on,  never  asking  quarter  and  never  giving  it. 

When  the  Germans  tried  to  charge,  the  moun 
taineers  threw  themselves  flat  on  the  ground  and 
fought  with  the  craft  of  Indians,  dodging  from  tree 
to  tree,  from  rock  to  rock,  but  always  advancing. 
When  the  Germans  sent  up  two  of  their  scouting 
aeroplanes  to  report  the  number  of  the  enemy's 
forces,  the  enemy  picked  off  the  German  pilots 
before  the  machines  were  over  the  tree  tops.  Here 
280 


EFFORT  TO  RESCUE  EDISON 

was  a  mixture  of  native  savagery  and  efficiency, 
plus  the  lynching  spirit,  plus  the  pre-revolutionary 
American  spirit  and  against  which,  with  unequal 
numbers  and  complete  surprise,  no  mathematically 
trained  European  force  had  the  slightest  chance. 

The  attack  began  at  five  o'clock  and  at  eight 
everything  was  over;  the  Germans  had  been  driven 
into  the  slough  of  Chickahominy  swamp  to  the 
northeast  of  Richmond  (where  McClellan  lost  an 
army)  and  slaughtered  here  to  the  last  man ;  where 
upon  the  mountaineers,  having  done  what  they 
came  to  do,  started  back  to  their  mountains. 

Meantime  Richmond  was  burning,  and  my  poor 
friend  Ryerson  and  I  were  facing  new  dangers. 

"Come  on!"  he  cried  with  new  hope  in  his  eyes. 
"We've  got  a  chance,  half  a  chance." 

Our  one  thought  now  was  to  reach  the  prison  be 
fore  it  was  too  late,  and  we  ran  as  fast  as  we  could 
through  streets  that  were  filled  with  terrified  and 
scantily  clad  citizens  who  were  as  ignorant  as  we 
were  of  what  was  really  happening.  A  German 
guard  at  the  prison  gates  recognised  Ryerson,  and 
we  passed  inside  just  as  a  shell  struck  one  of  the 
tobacco  factories  along  the  river  below  us  with  a 
violent  explosion.  A  moment  later  another  shell 
struck  the  railway  station  and  set  fire  to  it. 

Screams  of  terror  arose  from  all  parts  of  the 
prison,  many  of  the  inmates  being  negroes,  and  in 
the  general  confusion,  we  were  able  to  reach  the 
unused  wing  where  Edison  was  confined. 

281 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"Give  me  that  big  key — quick,"  whispered  Ryer- 
son.  "Wait  here." 

I  obeyed  and  a  few  minutes  later  he  beckoned  to 
me  excitedly  from  a  passage-way  that  led  into  a 
central  court  yard,  and  I  saw  a  white-faced  figure 
bundled  in  a  long  coat  hurrying  after  him.  It  was 
Thomas  A.  Edison. 

Just  then  there  came  a  rush  of  footsteps  behind 
us  with  German  shouts  and  curses. 

"They're  after  us,"  panted  Randolph.  "I've  got 
two  guns  and  I'll  hold  'em  while  you  two  make  a 
break  for  it.  Take  this  key.  It  opens  a  red  door 
at  the  end  of  this  passage  after  you  turn  to  the 
right.  Run  and — tell  my  sister  I — made  good — at 
the  last." 

I  clasped  his  hand  with  a  hurried  "God  bless 
you"  and  darted  ahead.  It  was  our  only  chance 
and,  even  as  we  turned  the  corner  of  the  passage, 
Ryerson  began  to  fire  at  our  pursuers.  I  heard 
afterwards  that  he  wounded  five  and  killed  two  of 
them.  I  don't  know  whether  that  was  the  count, 
but  I  know  he  held  them  until  we  made  our  escape 
out  into  the  blazing  city.  And  I  know  he  gave 
his  life  there  with  a  fierce  joy,  realising  that  the 
end  of  it,  at  least,  was  brave  and  useful. 


282 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

RIOTS    IN    CHICAGO    AND    GERMAN    PLOT    TO    RESCUE 
THE    CROWN    PRINCE 

THE  first  weeks  of  January,  1922,  brought  in 
creasing  difficulties  and  perplexities  for  the  Ger 
man  forces  of  occupation  in  America.  With  com 
parative  ease  the  enemy  had  conquered  our  Atlantic 
seaboard,  but  now  they  faced  the  harder  problem  of 
holding  it  against  a  large  and  intelligent  and  to 
tally  unreconciled  population.  What  was  to  be 
done  with  ten  million  people  who,  having  been  de 
prived  of  their  arms,  their  cities  and  their  liberties, 
had  kept  their  hatred? 

The  Germans  had  suffered  heavy  losses.  The 
disaster  to  von  Hindenburg's  army  in  the  battle 
of  the  Susquehanna  had  cost  them  over  a  hundred 
thousand  men.  The  revolt  of  Boston,  the  massacre 
of  Richmond,  had  weakened  the  Teuton  prestige  and 
had  set  American  patriotism  boiling,  seething,  from 
Maine  to  Texas,  from  Long  Island  to  the  Golden 
Gate.  There  were  rumours  of  strange  plots  and 
counter-plots,  also  of  a  new  great  army  of  invasion 
that  was  about  to  set  sail  from  Kiel.  Evidently  the 
Germans  must  have  more  men  if  they  were  to  ride 

283 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

safely  on  this  furious  American  avalanche  that  they 
had  set  in  motion,  if  they  were  to  tame  the  fiery 
American  volcano  that  was  smouldering  beneath 
them. 

In  this  connection  I  must  speak  of  the  famous 
woman's  plot  that  resulted  in  the  death  of  several 
hundred  German  officers  and  soldiers  and  that  would 
have  caused  the  death  of  thousands  but  for  un 
foreseen  developments.  This  plot  was  originated 
by  women  leaders  of  the  militant  suffrage  party  in 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  (the  faction  led  by 
Mrs.  O.  H.  P.  Belmont  not  approving)  and  soon 
grew  to  nation-wide  importance  with  an  enrolled 
body  of  twenty  thousand  militant  young  women, 
each  one  of  whom  was  pledged  to  accomplish  the 
destruction  of  one  of  the  enemy  on  a  certain  Satur 
day  night  between  the  hours  of  sunset  and  sunrise. 

By  a  miracle  these  women  kept  their  vow  of 
secrecy  until  the  fatal  evening,  but  at  eight  o'clock 
the  plot  was  revealed  to  Germans  in  Philadelphia 
through  the  confession  of  a  young  Quakeress  who, 
after  playing  her  part  for  weeks,  had  fallen  genu 
inely  in  love  with  a  Prussian  lieutenant  and  sim 
ply  could  not  bring  herself  to  kill  him  when  the 
time  came. 

I  come  now  to  a  sensational  happening  that  I 
witnessed  in  Chicago,  to  which  city  I  had  journeyed 
after  the  Richmond  affair  for  very  personal  rea 
sons.  If  this  were  a  romance  and  not  a  plain  re 
cital  of  facts  I  should  dwell  upon  my  meeting  with 
284 


RIOTS  IN  CHICAGO 


Mary  Ryerson  and  our  mutual  joy  in  each  finding 
that  the  other  had  escaped  unharmed  from  the  perils 
of  our  recent  adventures. 

Miss  Ryerson,  it  appeared,  after  the  discovery 
of  her  daring  disguise  had  been  released  on  parole 
by  order  of  General  Langthorne,  who  believed  her 
story  that  she  had  taken  this  desperate  chance  as 
the  only  means  of  saving  Thomas  A.  Edison.  Mary 
had  heard  the  story  of  her  brother's  heroic  death 
and  to  still  her  grief,  had  thrown  herself  into  work 
for  the  Red  Cross  fund  under  Miss  Boardman  and 
Mrs.  C.  C.  Rumsey.  She  had  hit  upon  a  charm 
ing  way  of  raising  money  by  having  little  girls 
dressed  in  white  with  American  flags  for  sashes,  lead 
white  lambs  through  the  streets,  the  lambs  bearing 
Red  Cross  contribution  boxes  on  their  backs.  By 
this  means  thousands  of  dollars  had  been  secured. 

On  the  evening  following  my  arrival  in  Chicago, 
I  had  arranged  to  take  Miss  Ryerson  to  a  great  re 
cruiting  rally  in  the  huge  lake-front  auditorium 
building,  but  when  I  called  at  her  boarding-house 
on  Wabash  Avenue,  I  found  her  much  disturbed 
over  a  strange  warning  that  she  had  just  received. 

"Something  terrible  is  going  to  happen  to-night," 
she  said.  "There  will  be  riots  all  over  Chicago." 

I  asked  how  she  knew  this  and  she  explained  that 
a  deaf  and  dumb  man  named  Stephen,  who  took 
care  of  the  furnace,  a  man  in  whose  rather  pathetic 
case  she  had  interested  herself,  had  told  her.  It 
seems  he  also  took  care  of  the  furnace  in  a  neigh- 

285 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

bouring  house  which  was  occupied  by  a  queer  Ger 
man  club,  really  a  gathering  place  of  German  spies. 

"He  overheard  things  there  and  told  me,"  she  said 
seriously,  whereupon  I  burst  out  laughing. 

"What?     A  deaf  and  dumb  man?" 

"You  know  what  I  mean.  He  reads  the  lips  and 
I  know  the  sign  language." 

The  main  point  was  that  this  furnace  man  had 
begged  Miss  Ryerson  not  to  leave  her  boarding- 
house  until  he  returned.  He  had  gone  back  to  the 
German  club,  where  he  hoped  to  get  definite  in 
formation  of  an  impending  catastrophe. 

"It's  some  big  coup  they  are  planning  for  to 
night,"  she  said.  "We  must  wait  here." 

So  we  waited  and  presently,  along  Wabash  Ave 
nue,  with  crashing  bands  and  a  roar  of  angry  voices, 
came  an  anti-militarist  socialist  parade  with  floats 
and  banners  presenting  fire-brand  sentiments  that 
called  forth  jeers  and  hisses  from  crowds  along  the 
sidewalks  or  again  enthusiastic  cheers  from  other 
crowds  of  contrary  mind. 

"You  see,  there's  going  to  be  trouble,"  trembled 
the  girl,  clutching  my  arm.  "Read  that!" 

A  huge  float  was  rolling  past  bearing  this  pledge 
in  great  red  letters: 

I  refuse  to  kill  your  father.    I  refuse  to  slay  your 

mother's  son.    I  refuse  to  plunge  a  bayonet  into  the 

breast  of  your  sweetheart's  brother.     I  refuse  to 

assassinate  you  and  then  hide  my  stained  fists  in 

286 


RIOTS  IN  CHICAGO 


the  folds  of  any  flag.  I  refuse  to  be  flattered  into 
hell's  nightmare  by  a  class  of  well-fed  snobs,  crooks 
and  cowards  who  despise  our  class  socially,  rob  our 
class  economically  and  betray  our  class  politically. 

At  this  the  hostile  crowds  roared  their  approval 
and  disapproval.  Also  at  another  float  that  paraded 
these  words : 

What  is  war?  For  working-class  wives — heart 
ache.  Wor  working-class  mothers — loneliness.  For 
working-class  children — orphanage.  For  peace — 
defeat.  For  death — a  harvest.  For  nations — debts. 
For  bankers — bonds,  interest.  For  preachers  on 
both  sides — ferocious  prayers  for  victory.  For  big 
manufacturers — business  profits.  For  "Thou  Shalt 
Not  Kill" — boisterous  laughter.  For  Christ — con 
tempt. 

I  saw  that  my  companion  was  deeply  moved. 

"It's  all  true,  what  they  say,  isn't  it?"  she  mur 
mured. 

"Yes,  it's  true,  but — we  can't  change  the  world, 
we  can't  give  up  our  country,  our  independence. 
Hello!" 

A  white-faced  man  had  rushed  into  the  parlour, 
gesticulating  violently  and  making  distressing  gut 
tural  sounds.  It  was  Stephen. 

Uncomprehending,  I  watched  his  swift  signs. 

"What  is  it?    What  is  he  trying  to  say?" 

"Wait!" 

287 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

Her  hands  flew  in  eager  questions  and  the  man 
answered  her. 

"Oh!"  she  cried.  "The  riots  are  a  blind  to  draw 
away  the  police  and  the  troops.  They're  marching 
against  the  Blackstone  Hotel  now — a  thousand  Ger 
man  spies — with  rifles." 

The  Blackstone  Hotel!  I  realised  in  a  moment 
what  that  meant.  The  German  Crown  Prince  was 
still  a  prisoner  at  the  Blackstone,  in  charge  of  Gen 
eral  Langhorne.  It  was  a  serious  handicap  to  the 
enemy  that  we  held  in  our  power  the  heir  to  the 
German  throne.  They  dared  not  resort  to  repri 
sals  against  America  lest  Frederick  William  suffer. 

"They  mean  to  rescue  the  Crown  Prince?" 

"Yes." 

I  rushed  to  the  telephone  to  call  up  police  head 
quarters,  but  the  wires  were  dead — German  spies 
had  seen  to  that. 

"Come!"  I  said,  seizing  her  arm.  "We  must 
hustle  over  to  the  auditorium." 

Fortunately  the  great  recruiting  hall  was  only  a 
few  blocks  distant  and  as  we  hurried  there  Miss 
Ryerson  explained  that  the  furnace  man,  Stephen, 
before  coming  to  us,  had  run  to  McCormick  Col 
lege,  the  Chicago  home  for  deaf  students,  and  given 
the  alarm. 

"What  good  will  that  do?" 

"What  good !  These  McCormick  boys  have  mili 
tary  drill.  They  are  splendid  shots.  Stephen  says 
288 


RIOTS  IN  CHICAGO 


fifty  of  them  will  hold  the  Germans  until  our  troops 
get  there." 

"I  hope  so." 

I  need  not  detail  our  experiences  in  the  enor 
mous  and  rather  disorderly  crowd  that  packed  the 
auditorium  building  except  to  say  that  ten  minutes 
later  we  left  there  followed  by  eighty  members  of 
the  Camp  Fire  Club  (they  had  organised  this  ap 
peal  for  recruits),  formidable  hunters  of  big  game 
who  came  on  the  run  carrying  the  high  power  rifles 
that  they  had  used  against  elephants  and  tigers  in 
India  and  against  moose  and  grizzlies  in  this  coun 
try.  Among  them  were  Ernest  Thompson  Seton, 
Dan  Beard,  Edward  Seymour,  Belmore  Brown,  Ed 
ward  H.  Litchfield  and  his  son,  Herbert. 

Under  the  command  of  their  president,  George 
D.  Pratt,  these  splendid  shots  proceeded  with  all 
speed  to  the  Blackstone  Hotel,  where  they  found 
a  company  of  deaf  riflemen,  under  the  command 
of  J.  Frederick  Meagher,  about  seventy  in  all,  guard 
ing  the  doors  and  windows.  Not  a  moment  too  soon 
did  they  arrive  for,  as  they  entered  the  hotel,  hoarse 
cries  were  heard  outside  and  presently  a  bomb  ex 
ploded  at  the  main  entrance,  shattering  the  heavy 
doors  and  killing  nine  of  the  defenders,  including 
Melvin  Davidson,  Jack  Seipp  and  John  Clarke,  the 
Blackfoot  Indian,  famous  for  his  wood  carvings  and 
his  unerring  marksmanship. 

Meantime  messengers  had  been  sent  in  all  direc 
tions,  through  the  rioting  city,  calling  for  troops 

289 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

and  police  and  in  twenty  minutes,  with  the  ar 
rival  of  strong  reinforcements,  the  danger  passed. 

But  those  twenty  minutes!  Again  and  again  the 
Germans  came  forward  in  furious  assaults  with  rifles 
and  machine  guns.  The  Crown  Prince  must  be  res 
cued.  At  any  cost  he  must  be  rescued. 

No!  The  Crown  Prince  was  not  rescued.  The 
defenders  of  the  Hotel  Blackstone  had  their  way,  a 
hundred  and  fifty  against  a  thousand,  but  they  paid 
the  price.  Before  help  came  forty  members  of 
the  Camp  Fire  Club  and  fifty  of  those  brave  deaf 
American  students  gave  up  their  lives,  as  is  re 
corded  on  a  bronze  tablet  in  the  hotel  corridor  that 
bears  witness  to  their  heroism. 

I  must  now  make  my  last  contribution  to  this 
chapter  of  our  history,  which  has  to  do  with  mo 
tives  that  presently  influenced  the  Crown  Prince 
towards  a  startling  decision.  I  came  into  posses 
sion  of  this  knowledge  as  a  consequence  of  the 
part  I  played  in  rescuing  Thomas  A.  Edison  after 
his  abduction  by  the  Germans. 

One  of  the  first  questions  Mr.  Edison  asked  me 
as  we  escaped  in  a  swift  automobile  from  the  burn 
ing  and  shell-wrecked  Virginia  capital,  had  a  direct 
bearing  on  the  ending  of  the  war. 

"Mr.  Langston,"  he  asked,  "did  the  Committee  of 
Twenty-one  receive  my  wireless  about  the  airship 
expedition?" 

"Yes,  sir,  they  got  it,"  I  replied,  and  then  ex- 
290 


"MY  FRIENDS.  T1IKY  SAY  PATRIOTISM  IS  DEAD  IN 
THIS  LAND.  THEY  SAY  WE  ARE  EATEN  UP  WITH 
LOVE  OF  MONEY,  TAINTED  WITH  A  YELLOW  STREAK 
THAT  MAKES  US  AFRAID  TO  FIGHT.  IT'S  A  LIE! 
I  AM  SIXTY  YEARS  OLD,  BUT  I'LL  FIGHT  IN  THE. 
TRENCHES  WITH  MY  FOUR  SONS  BESIDE  ME.  AND  TOT! 
MEN  WILL  DO  THE  SAME.  AM  I  RIGHT?" 


RIOTS  IN  CHICAGO 


plained  the  line  of  reasoning  that  had  led  the  Com 
mittee  to  disregard  Mr.  Edison's  warning. 

He  listened,  frowning. 

"Huh !    That  sounds  like  Elihu  Root." 

"It  was,"  I  admitted. 

For  hours  as  we  rushed  along,  my  distinguished 
companion  sat  silent  and  I  did  not  venture  to  break 
in  upon  his  meditations,  although  there  were  ques 
tions  that  I  longed  to  ask  him.  I  wondered  if  it 
was  Widding's  sudden  death  in  the  Richmond  prison 
that  had  saddened  him. 

It  was  not  until  late  that  afternoon,  when  we  were 
far  back  in  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  that  Mr. 
Edison's  face  cleared  and  he  spoke  with  some  free 
dom  of  his  plans  for  helping  the  military  situa 
tion. 

"There's  one  thing  that  troubles  me,"  he  reflected 
as  we  finished  an  excellent  meal  at  the  Allegheny 
Hotel  in  Staunton,  Virginia.  "I  wonder  if — let's 
see!  You  have  met  the  Crown  Prince,  you  inter 
viewed  him,  didn't  you?" 

"Twice,"  said  I. 

"Is  he  intelligent — really  intelligent?  A  big  open- 
minded  man  or — is  he  only  a  prince?" 

"He's  more  than  a  prince,"  I  said,  "he's  brilliant, 
but — I  don't  know  how  open-minded  he  is." 

Edison  drummed  nervously  on  the  table. 

"If  we  were  only  dealing  with  a  Bismarck  or  a 
von  Moltke!  Anyhow,  unless  he's  absolutely  nar 
row  and  obstinate " 

291 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

"Oh,  no." 

"Good!  Where  are  the  Committee  of  Twenty- 
one?  In  Chicago?" 

"Yes." 

"And  the  Crown  Prince  too?" 

"Yes." 

"We'll  be  there  to-morrow  and — listen!  We  can 
destroy  the  German  fleet.  Widding's  invention  will 
do  it.  Poor  Widding!  It  broke  his  heart  to  see 
America  conquered  when  he  knew  that  he  could 
save  the  nation  if  somebody  would  only  listen  to 
him.  But  nobody  would."  Edison's  deep  eyes 
burned  with  anger.  "Thank  God,  I  listened." 

It  seemed  like  presumption  to  question  Mr.  Edi 
son's  statement,  yet  I  ventured  to  remind  him  that 
several  distinguished  scientists  had  declared  that 
the  airship  America  could  not  fail  to  destroy  the 
German  fleet. 

"Pooh!"  he  answered.  "I  said  the  America  ex 
pedition  would  fail.  The  radio-control  of  torpedoes 
is  uncertain  at  the  best  because  of  difficulties  in 
following  the  guide  lights.  They  may  be  miles 
away,  shut  off  by  fog  or  waves;  but  this  thing  of 
Widding's  is  sure." 

"Has  it  been  tried?" 

"Heavens!  No!  If  it  had  been  tried  the  whole 
world  would  be  using  it.  After  we  destroy  the  Ger 
man  fleet  the  whole  world  will  use  it." 

"Is  it  some  new  principle?  Some  unknown 
agency?" 

292 


RIOTS  IN  CHICAGO 


He  shook  his  head.  "There's  nothing  new  about 
it.  It's  just  a  sure  way  to  make  an  ordinary  White- 
head  torpedo  hit  a  battleship." 

Although  I  was  consumed  with  curiosity  I  did  not 
press  for  details  at  this  time  and  my  companion 
presently  relapsed  into  one  of  his  long  silences. 

We  reached  Chicago  the  next  afternoon  and,  as 
the  great  inventor  left  me  to  lay  his  plans  before 
the  Committee  of  Twenty-one,  he  thanked  me  ear 
nestly  for  what  I  had  done  and  asked  if  he  could 
serve  me  in  any  way. 

"I  suppose  you  know  what  I  would  like?"  I 
laughed. 

He  smiled  encouragingly. 

"Still  game?  Well,  Mr.  Langston,  if  the  Com 
mittee  approves  my  plan,  and  I  think  they  will, 
you  can  get  ready  for  another  big  experience.  Take 
a  comfortable  room  at  the  University  Club  and 
wait." 


293 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

DECISIVE   BATTLE   BETWEEN    GERMAN   FLEET   AND 
AMERICAN   SEAPLANES   CARRYING  TORPEDOES 

I  DID  as  he  bade  me  and  was  rewarded  a  week 
later  for  my  faith  and  patience.  I  subsequently 
learned  that  this  week  (the  time  of  my  wonderful 
experience  with  Mary  Ryerson)  was  spent  by  the 
Committee  of  Twenty-one  in  explaining  to  the 
Crown  Prince  exactly  what  the  Widding-Edison  in 
vention  was.  Models  and  blue  prints  were  shown 
and  American  and  German  experts  were  called  in  to 
explain  and  discuss  all  debatable  points.  And  the 
conclusion,  established  beyond  reasonable  doubt, 
was  that  German  warships  could  not  hope  to  defend 
themselves  against  the  Widding-Edison  method  of 
torpedo  attack.  This  was  admitted  by  Field  Mar 
shal  von  Hindenburg  and  by  Professor  Hugo  Mtin- 
sterberg,  who  were  allowed  to  bring  scientists  of 
their  own  choosing  for  an  absolutely  impartial  opin 
ion.  Unless  terms  were  made  the  German  fleet 
faced  almost  certain  destruction. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  torn  by  the  hazards  of  this 
emergency.  He  could  not  disregard  such  a  weight  of 
evidence.  He  knew  that,  without  the  support  of 
294 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


her  fleet,  Germany  must  abandon  her  whole  cam 
paign  in  the  United  States  and  withdraw  her  forces 
from  the  soil  of  America.  This  meant  failure  and 
humiliation,  perhaps  revolution  at  home.  The  fate 
of  the  Hohenzollern  dynasty  might  hang  upon  his 
decision. 

"Gentlemen,"  he  concluded  haughtily,  "I  refuse 
to  yield.  If  I  cable  the  Imperial  Government  in 
Berlin  it  will  be  a  strong  expression  of  my  wish  that 
our  new  army  of  invasion,  under  convoy  of  the  Ger 
man  fleet,  sail  from  Kiel,  as  arranged,  and  join  in 
the  invasion  of  America  at  the  earliest  possible  mo 
ment." 

And  so  it  befell.  On  January  24th  a  first  section 
of  the  new  German  expedition,  numbering  150,000 
men,  sailed  for  America.  On  January  29th  our  ad 
vance  fleet  of  swift  scouting  aeroplanes,  equipped 
with  wireless  and  provisioned  for  a  three  days'  cruise, 
flew  forth  from  Grand  Island  in  the  Niagara  River, 
and,  following  the  St.  Lawrence,  swept  out  over  the 
Atlantic  in  search  of  the  advancing  Teutons. 

Two  days  later  wireless  messages  received  in  Buf 
falo  informed  us  that  German  transports,  with  ac 
companying  battleships,  had  been  located  off  the 
banks  of  Newfoundland  and  on  February  1st  our 
main  fleet  of  aeroboats,  a  hundred  huge  seaplanes, 
equipped  with  Widding-Edison  torpedoes,  sailed 
away  over  Lake  Erie  in  line  of  battle,  flying  towards 
the  northeast  at  the  height  of  half  a  mile,  ready 
for  the  struggle  that  was  to  settle  the  fate  of  the 

295 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

United  States.  The  prayers  of  a  hundred  million 
Americans  went  with  them. 

And  now  Mr.  Edison  kept  his  promise  generously 
by  securing  for  me  the  privilege  of  accompanying 
him  in  a  great  900-horse-power  seaplane  from  which, 
with  General  Wood,  he  proposed  to  witness  our  at 
tack  upon  the  enemy. 

"We  may  have  another  passenger,"  said  the  Gen 
eral  mysteriously  as  we  stamped  about  in  our  heavy 
coats  on  the  departure  field,  for  it  was  a  cold  morn 
ing. 

"All  aboard,"  called  out  the  pilot  presently  from 
his  glass-sheltered  seat  and  I  had  just  taken  my 
place  in  the  right  hand  cabin  when  the  sound  of 
several  swiftly  arriving  motors  drew  my  attention 
and,  looking  out,  I  was  surprised  to  see  the  Crown 
Prince  alighting  from  a  yellow  car  about  which 
stood  a  formal  military  escort.  General  Wood 
stepped  forward  quickly  to  receive  His  Imperial 
Highness,  who  was  clad  in  aviator  costume. 

"Our  fourth  passenger!"  whispered  Edison. 

"You  don't  mean  that  the  Crown  Prince  is  going 
with  us?" 

The  inventor  nodded. 

I  learned  afterwards  that  only  at  the  eleventh 
hour  did  the  imperial  prisoner  decide  to  accept  Gen 
eral  Wood's  invitation  to  join  this  memorable  ex 
pedition. 

"I  have  come,  General,"  said  the  Prince,  saluting 
296 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


gravely,  "because  I  feel  that  my  presence  here  with 
you  may  enable  me  to  serve  my  country." 

"I  am  convinced  Your  Imperial  Highness  has  de 
cided  wisely,"  answered  the  commander-in-chief,  re 
turning  the  salute. 

An  hour  later,  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  aerial 
squadrons  that  stretched  behind  us  in  a  great  V, 
we  were  flying  over  snow-covered  fields  at  eighty 
miles  an  hour,  headed  for  the  Atlantic  and  the  Ger 
man  fleet.  Our  seaplanes,  the  most  powerful  yet 
built  of  the  Curtiss-Wright  1922  model,  carried 
eight  men,  including  three  that  I  have  not  men 
tioned,  a  wireless  operator,  an  assistant  pilot  and  a 
general  utility  man  who  also  served  as  cook.  Two 
cabins  offered  surprisingly  comfortable  accommo 
dations,  considering  the  limited  space,  and  we  ate 
our  first  meal  with  keen  relish. 

"We  have  provisions  for  how  many  days?"  asked 
the  Crown  Prince. 

"For  six  days,"  said  General  Wood. 

"But,  surely  not  oil  for  six  days!" 

"We  have  oil  for  only  forty-eight  hours  of  con 
tinuous  flying,  but  Your  Imperial  Highness  must 
understand  that  our  seaplanes  float  perfectly  on  the 
ocean,  so  we  can  wait  for  the  German  fleet  as  long 
as  is  necessary  and  then  rise  again." 

The  Prince  frowned  at  this  and  twisted  his  sandy 
moustache  into  sharper  upright  points. 

"When  do  you  expect  to  sight  the  German  fleet?" 

"About  noon  the  day  after  to-morrow.  We  shall 

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THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

go  out  to  sea  sometime  in  the  night  and  most  of 
to-morrow  we  will  spend  in  ocean  manoeuvres.  Your 
Imperial  Highness  will  be  interested." 

In  spite  of  roaring  propellers  and  my  cramped 
bunk  I  slept  excellently  that  night  and  did  not 
waken  until  a  sudden  stopping  of  the  two  engines 
and  a  new  motion  of  the  seaplane  brought  me  to 
consciousness.  The  day  was  breaking  over  a  waste 
of  white-capped  ocean  and  we  learned  that  Commo 
dore  Tower,  who  was  in  command  of  our  main  air 
squadron,  fearing  a  storm,  had  ordered  manoeuvres 
to  begin  at  once  so  as  to  anticipate  the  gale.  We 
were  planing  down  in  great  circles,  preparing  to  rest 
on  the  water,  and,  as  I  looked  to  right  and  left,  I 
saw  the  sea  strangely  covered  with  the  great  winged 
creatures  of  our  fleet,  mottle-coloured,  that  rose  and 
fell  as  the  green  waves  tossed  them. 

I  should  explain  that  these  seaplanes  were  con 
structed  like  catamarans  with  twin  bodies,  enabling 
them  to  ride  on  any  sea,  and  between  these  bodies 
the  torpedoes  were  swung,  one  for  each  seaplane, 
with  a  simple  lowering  and  releasing  device  that 
could  be  made  to  function  by  the  touch  of  a  lever. 
The  torpedo  could  be  fired  from  the  seaplane  either 
as  it  rested  on  the  water  or  as  it  skimmed  over  the 
water,  say  at  a  height  of  ten  feet,  and  the  released 
projectile  darted  straight  ahead  in  the  line  of  the 
seaplane's  flight. 

With  great  interest  we  watched  the  manreuvres 
which  consisted  chiefly  in  the  practice  of  signals,  in 
298 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


rising  from  the  ocean  and  alighting  again  and  in 
flying  in  various  formations. 

"From  how  great  a  distance  do  you  propose  to 
fire  your  torpedoes?"  the  Crown  Prince  asked  Mr. 
Edison,  speaking  through  a  head-piece  to  overcome 
the  noise. 

"We'll  run  our  seaplanes  pretty  close  up,"  an 
swered  the  inventor,  "so  as  to  take  no  chance  of 
missing.  I  guess  we'll  begin  discharging  torpedoes 
at  about  1,200  yards." 

"But  your  seaplanes  will  be  shot  to  pieces  by  the 
fire  of  our  battleships." 

"Some  will  be,  but  not  many.  Our  attack  will  be 
too  swift  and  sudden.  It's  hard  to  hit  an  aero 
plane  going  a  mile  in  a  minute  and,  before  your  gun 
ners  can  get  the  ranges,  the  thing  will  be  over." 

"Besides,"  put  in  General  Wood,  "every  man  in 
our  fleet  is  an  American  who  has  volunteered  for 
duty  involving  extreme  risk.  Every  man  will  give 
his  life  gladly." 

About  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  February  3rd 
our  front  line  flyers,  miles  ahead  of  us,  wirelessed 
back  word  that  they  had  sighted  the  German  fleet, 
and,  a  few  minutes  later,  we  saw  smoke  columns 
rising  on  the  far  eastern  horizon.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  air  of  quiet  authority  with  which  Gen 
eral  Wood  addressed  his  prisoner  at  this  critical  mo 
ment. 

"I  must  inform  Your  Imperial  Highness  that  I 
have  sent  a  wireless  message  to  the  admiral  of  the 

299 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

German  fleet  informing  him  of  your  presence  here 
as  a  voluntary  passenger.  This  seaplane  is  identi 
fied  by  its  signal  flags  and  by  the  fact  that  it  carries 
no  torpedo.  We  shall  do  everything  to  protect 
Your  Imperial  Highness  from  danger." 

"I  thank  you,  sir,"  the  prince  answered  stiffly. 

General  Wood  withdrew  to  his  place  in  the  ob 
servation  chamber  beside  Mr.  Edison. 

Swiftly  we  flew  nearer  to  the  enemy's  battleships, 
which  were  advancing  in  two  columns,  led  by  two 
super-dreadnoughts,  the  Kaiser  Friedrich  and  the 
Moltke,  with  the  admiral's  flag  at  her  forepeak  and 
flanked  by  lines  of  destroyers  that  belched  black 
smoke  from  their  squat  funnels.  With  our  binocu 
lars  we  saw  that  there  was  much  confusion  on  the 
German  decks  as  they  hastily  cleared  for  action. 
Our  attack  had  evidently  taken  them  completely  by 
surprise  and  they  had  no  flyers  ready  to  dispute 
our  mastery  of  the  air. 

Presently  General  Wood  re-entered  the  cabin. 

"I  have  a  wireless  from  Commodore  Tower  say 
ing  that  everything  is  ready.  Before  it  is  too  late 
I  appeal  to  Your  Imperial  Highness  to  prevent  the 
destruction  of  these  splendid  ships  and  a  horrible 
loss  of  life.  Will  Your  Highness  say  the  word?" 

"No!"  answered  the  Crown  Prince  harshly. 

General  Wood  turned  to  the  cabin  window  and 
nodded  to  the  assistant  pilot,  who  dropped  over 
board  a  signal  smoke  ball  that  left  behind,  as  it  fell, 
a  greenish  spiral  trail.  Straightway,  the  Commo- 
300 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


dore's  seaplane,  a  mile  distant,  broke  out  a  line  of 
flags  whereupon  six  flyers  from  six  different  points 
leaped  ahead  like  sky  hounds  on  the  scent,  shooting 
forward  and  downward  towards  their  mighty  prey. 
The  remainder  of  the  sky  fleet  circled  away  at  safe 
distances  of  three,  four  or  five  miles,  waiting  the 
result  of  this  first  blow,  confident  that  the  Moltke 
was  doomed. 

Doomed  she  was.  In  vain  the  great  battleship 
turned  her  guns,  big  and  little,  against  these  snarl 
ing,  swooping  creatures  of  the  air  that  came  at  her 
like  darting  vultures  all  at  once  from  many  sides, 
but  swerved  at  the  twelve  hundred  yard  line  and 
took  her  broadside  on  with  their  torpedoes,  fired 
them  and  were  gone. 

Six  white  paths  streaked  the  ocean  beneath  us 
marking  the  course  of  six  torpedoes  and  three  of 
them  found  their  target.  Three  of  them  missed,  but 
that  was  because  the  gunners  were  excited.  There 
is  no  more  excuse  for  a  torpedo  missing  a  dread 
nought  at  a  thousand  yards  than  there  is  for  a  pistol 
missing  a  barn  door  at  twenty  feet! 

The  Moltke  began  to  sink  almost  immediately. 
Through  our  glasses  we  watched  her  putting  off  life 
boats  and  we  saw  that  scarcely  half  of  them  had 
been  launched  when  she  lurched  violently  to  star 
board  and  went  down  by  the  head.  Her  boats,  led 
by  one  flying  the  admiral's  flag,  made  for  the  sister 
dreadnought,  but  had  not  covered  a  hundred  yards 
when  Commodore  Tower  signalled  again  and  six 

301 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

other  seaplanes  darted  into  action  and,  by  the  same 
swift  manoeuvres,  sank  the  Kaiser  Friedrich. 

In  this  action  we  lost  two  seaplanes. 

Now  General  Wood,  white-faced,  re-entered  the 
cabin. 

"Has  Your  Imperial  Highness  anything  to  say?" 
asked  the  American  commander. 

Silent  and  rigid  sat  the  heir  to  the  German  throne, 
his  hands  clenched,  his  nostrils  dilating,  his  lips 
hard  shut. 

"If  not,"  continued  General  Wood,  "I  shall,  with 
great  regret,  signal  Commodore  Tower  to  sink  that 
transport,  which  means,  I  fear,  the  loss  of  many 
thousands  of  German  lives."  He  pointed  to  an  im 
mense  dark  grey  vessel  of  about  the  tonnage  of  the 
Vaterland. 

The  Crown  Prince  neither  answered  nor  stirred 
and  again  the  American  Commander  nodded  to  the 
assistant  pilot.  Once  more  the  smoke  ball  fell,  the 
signal  of  attack  was  given  and  a  third  group  of  sea 
planes  sped  forward  on  their  deadly  mission.  The 
men  aboard  this  enormous  transport  equalled  in 
numbers  the  entire  male  population  of  fighting  age 
in  a  city  like  New  Haven  and  of  these  not  twenty 
were  saved.  And  we  lost  two  more  seaplanes. 

We  had  now  used  eighteen  of  our  hundred  avail 
able  torpedoes  and  had  sunk  three  ships  of  the 
enemy. 

At  this  moment  the  sun's  glory  burst  through  a 
rift  in  the  dull  sky,  whereupon  our  fleet,  welcoming 
302 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


the  omen,  threw  forth  the  stars  and  stripes  from 
every  flyer  and  sailed  nearer  the  stricken  fleet  hun 
gry  for  further  victories.  I  counted  twenty  trans 
ports  and  half  a  dozen  battleships.  Proudly  we  cir 
cled  over  them,  knowing  that  our  power  of  destruc 
tion  meant  safety  and  honour  for  America. 

In  the  observation  chamber  General  Wood 
watched,  frowning  while  the  wireless  crackled  out 
another  message  from  Commodore  Tower.  Where 
should  we  strike  next? 

In  the  cabin  sat  the  Crown  Prince,  his  face  like 
marble  and  the  anguish  of  death  in  his  heart. 

Suddenly,  a  little  thing  happened  that  turned 
Frederick  William  towards  a  decision  which  practi 
cally  ended  the  war.  The  little  thing  was  a  burst 
of  music  from  the  Koenig  Albert,  steaming  at  the 
head  of  the  nearer  battleship  column  two  miles  dis 
tant.  On  she  came,  shouldering  great  waves  from 
her  bows  while  hundreds  of  blue-jackets  lined  her 
rails  as  if  to  salute  or  defy  the  tragic  fate  hanging 
over  them. 

As  General  Wood  appeared  once  more  before  his 
tortured  prisoner,  there  floated  over  the  sea  the 
strains  of  "Die  Wacht  Am  Rhein,"  whereupon  up  on 
his  feet  came  the  Crown  Prince  and,  head  bared, 
stood  listening  to  this  great  hymn  of  the  Father 
land,  while  tears  streamed  down  his  face. 

"I  yield,"  he  said  in  broken  tones.  "I  cannot 
stand  out  any  longer.  I  will  do  as  you  wish,  sir." 

"My  terms  are  unconditional  surrender,"  said  the 

303 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

American  commander,  "to  be  followed  by  a  truce 
for  peace  negotiations.  Does  Your  Imperial  High 
ness  agree  to  unconditional  surrender?" 

"Those  are  harsh  terms.  In  our  talk  at  Chicago 
Your  Excellency  only  asked  that  I  prevent  this  ex 
pedition  from  sailing.  I  am  ready  to  order  the 
expedition  back  to  Germany." 

General  Wood  shook  his  head. 

"Conditions  are  different  now.  Your  Imperial 
Highness  refused  my  Chicago  suggestion  and  chose 
the  issue  of  battle  which  has  turned  in  our  favour. 
To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils.  These  battleships 
are  our  prizes  of  war.  These  German  soldiers  in 
the  troopships  are  our  prisoners." 

"Impossible!"  protested  the  Prince.  "Do  you 
think  five  hundred  men  in  aeroplanes  can  make  pris 
oners  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  battle 
ships?" 

"I  do,  sir,"  declared  General  Wood  with  grim 
finality.  "There's  a  perfectly  safe  prison — down 
below."  He  glanced  into  the  green  abyss  above 
which  we  were  soaring.  "I  must  ask  Your  Imperial 
Highness  to  decide  quickly.  The  Commodore  is 
waiting." 

Every  schoolboy  knows  what  happened  then,  how 
the  Prince,  in  this  crisis,  turned  from  grief  to  de 
fiance,  how  he  dared  General  Wood  to  do  his  worst, 
how  the  American  commander  sank  the  Koenig  Al 
bert  and  two  more  transports  in  the  next  half  hour 
with  a  loss  of  five  seaplanes,  and  how,  finally,  Fred- 
304 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


erick  William,  seeing  that  the  entire  German  expe 
dition  would  be  annihilated,  surrendered  absolutely 
and  ran  up  the  stars  and  stripes  above  German 
dreadnoughts,  transports  and  destroyers.  For  the 
first  time  in  history  an  insignificant  air  force  had 
conquered  a  great  fleet.  The  Widding-Edison  in 
vention  had  made  good. 

I  need  not  dwell  upon  details  of  the  German- 
American  Peace  Conference  which  occupied  the 
month  of  February,  1922.  These  are  matters  of 
familiar  record.  The  country  went  from  one  sur 
prise  to  another  as  Germany  yielded  point  after 
point  of  her  original  demands.  Under  no  circum 
stances  would  she  withdraw  her  armies  from  the  soil 
of  America  unless  she  received  a  huge  indemnity, 
but  at  the  end  of  a  week  she  agreed  to  withdraw 
without  any  indemnity.  Firmly  she  insisted  that 
the  United  States  must  abrogate  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine,  but  she  presently  waived  this  demand  and 
agreed  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  might  stand. 
Above  all  she  stood  out  for  the  neutralisation  of  the 
Panama  Canal.  Here  she  would  not  yield,  but  at 
the  close  of  the  conference  she  did  yield  and  on  Feb 
ruary  22nd,  1922,  Germany  signed  the  treaty  of 
Pittsburg  which  gave  her  only  one  advantage, 
namely,  the  re-possession  of  her  captured  fleet. 

It  was  not  until  a  fortnight  later,  after  the  in 
vading  transports  had  sailed  for  home  and  the  last 
German  soldier  had  left  America,  that  we  under- 

305 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

stood  why  the  enemy  had  dealt  with  us  so  gra 
ciously.  On  March  4th,  1922,  the  news  burst  upon 
the  world  that  France  and  Russia,  smarting  under 
the  inconclusive  results  of  the  Great  War,  had 
struck  again  at  the  Central  Empires,  and  we  saw  that 
Germany  had  abandoned  her  invasion  of  America 
not  because  of  our  air  victory,  but  because  she  found 
herself  involved  in  another  European  war.  She  was 
glad  to  leave  the  United  States  on  any  terms. 

A  few  weeks  later  in  Washington  (now  happily 
restored  as  the  national  capital)  I  was  privileged  to 
hear  General  Wood's  great  speech  before  a  joint 
committee  of  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  The  discussion  was  on  national  pre 
paredness  and  I  thrilled  as  the  general  rose  to  an 
swer  various  Western  statesmen  who  opposed  a  de 
fence  plan  calling  for  large  appropriations  on  the 
ground  that,  in  the  present  war  with  Germany  and 
in  her  previous  wars,  America  had  always  managed 
to  get  through  creditably  without  a  great  military 
establishment  and  always  would. 

"Gentlemen,"  replied  General  Wood,  "let  us  be 
honest  with  ourselves  in  regard  to  these  American 
wars  that  we  speak  of  so  complacently,  these  wars 
that  are  presented  in  our  school  books  as  great  and 
glorious.  How  great  were  they?  How  glorious  were 
they?  Let  us  have  the  truth. 

"Take  our  War  of  the  Revolution.  Does  any  one 
seriously  maintain  that  this  was  a  great  war?  It 
was  not  a  war  at  all.  It  was  a  series  of  skirmishes. 
306 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


It  was  the  blunder  of  a  stupid  English  king,  who 
never  had  the  support  of  the  English  people.  Our 
revolutionary  armies  decreased  each  year  and,  but 
for  the  interposition  of  the  French,  our  cause,  in 
all  probability,  would  have  been  lost. 

"And  the  war  of  1812?  Was  that  great  and  glori 
ous?  Why  did  we  win?  Because  we  were  isolated 
by  the  Atlantic  Ocean  (which  in  these  days  of 
steam  no  longer  isolates  us)  and  because  England 
was  occupied  in  a  death  struggle  with  Napoleon. 

"In  our  Civil  War  both  North  and  South  were 
totally  unprepared.  If  either  side  at  the  start  had 
had  an  efficient  army  of  100,000  men  that  side 
would  have  won  overwhelmingly  hi  the  first  six 
months. 

"Our  war  with  Spain  in  1898  was  a  joke,  a  pitiful 
exhibition  of  incompetency  and  unreadiness  in  every 
department.  We  only  won  because  Spain  was  more 
unprepared  than  we  were.  And  as  to  our  great 
naval  victory,  the  truth  is  that  the  Spanish  fleet 
destroyed  itself. 

"Gentlemen,  we  have  never  had  a  real  war  in 
America.  This  invasion  by  Germany  was  the  be 
ginning  of  a  real  war,  but  that  has  now  been  mar 
vellously  averted.  Through  extraordinary  good  for 
tune  we  have  been  delivered  from  this  peril,  just 
as,  by  extraordinary  good  fortune,  we  gained  some 
successes  over  the  Germans,  like  the  battle  of  the 
Susquehanna  and  our  recent  seaplane  victory,  suc- 

307 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

cesses  that  were  largely  accidental  and  could  never 
be  repeated. 

"I  assure  you,  gentlemen,  it  is  madness  for  us  to 
count  upon  continued  deliverance  from  the  war  peril 
because  in  the  past  we  have  been  lucky,  because  in 
the  past  wide  seas  have  guarded  us,  because  in  the 
past  our  enemies  have  quarrelled  among  themselves, 
or  because  American  resourcefulness  and  ingenuity 
have  been  equal  to  sudden  emergencies.  To  perma 
nently  base  our  hopes  of  national  safety  and  in 
tegrity  upon  such  grounds  is  to  choose  the  course 
adopted  by  China  and  to  invite  for  our  descendants 
the  humiliating  fate  that  finally  overwhelmed  China, 
which  nation  has  now  had  a  practical  suzerainty 
forced  upon  her  by  a  much  smaller  power. 

"There  is  only  one  way  for  America  to  be  safe 
from  invasion  and  that  is  for  America  to  be  ready 
for  it.  We  are  not  ready  to-day,  we  never  have 
been  ready,  yet  war  may  smite  us  at  any  time  with 
all  its  hideous  slaughter  and  devastation.  Our  vast 
possessions  constitute  the  richest,  the  most  tempting 
prize  on  earth,  and  no  words  can  measure  the  envy 
and  hatred  that  less  rich  and  less  favoured  nations 
feel  against  us. 

"Gentlemen,  our  duty  is  plain  and  urgent.  We 
must  be  prepared  against  aggression.  We  must 
save  from  danger  this  land  that  we  love,  this  great 
nation  built  by  our  fathers.  We  must  have,  what  we 
now  notoriously  lack,  a  sufficient  army,  a  satisfac 
tory  system  of  military  training,  battleships,  aero- 
308 


GENERAL  WOOD'S  APPEAL 


planes,  submarines,  munition  plants,  all  that  is  nec 
essary  to  uphold  the  national  honour  so  that  when 
an  unscrupulous  enemy  strikes  at  us  and  our  chil 
dren  he  will  find  us  ready.  If  we  are  strong  we 
shall,  in  all  probability,  avoid  war,  since  the  choice 
between  war  and  arbitration  will  then  be  ours." 

Scenes  of  wild  enthusiasm  followed  this  appeal  of 
the  veteran  commander,  not  only  at  the  Capitol, 
but  all  over  the  land  when  his  words  were  made 
public.  At  last  America  had  learned  her  bitter  les 
son  touching  the  folly  of  unpreparedness,  the  iron 
had  entered  her  soul  and  now,  in  1922,  the  people's 
representatives  were  quick  to  perform  a  sacred  duty 
that  had  been  vainly  urged  upon  them  in  1916.  Al 
most  unanimously  (even  Senators  William  Jennings 
Bryan  and  Henry  Ford  refused  to  vote  against  pre 
paredness)  both  houses  of  Congress  declared  for 
the  fullest  measure  of  national  defence.  It  was 
voted  that  we  have  a  strong  and  fully  manned  navy 
with  48  dreadnoughts  and  battle  cruisers  in  propor 
tion.  It  was  voted  that  we  have  scout  destroyers 
and  sea-going  submarines  in  numbers  sufficient  to 
balance  the  capital  fleet.  It  was  voted  that  we 
have  an  aerial  fleet  second  to  none  in  the  world.  It 
was  voted  that  we  have  a  standing  army  of  200,000 
men  with  45,000  officers,  backed  by  a  national  force 
of  citizens  trained  in  arms  under  a  universal  and 
obligatory  one-year  military  system.  It  was  voted, 
finally,  that  we  have  adequate  munition  plants  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  all  under  government 

309 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA 

control  and  partly  subsidised  under  conditions  as 
suring  ample  munitions  at  any  time,  but  absolutely 
preventing  private  monopolies  or  excessive  profits  in 
the  munition  manufacturing  business. 

This  was  declared  to  be — and  God  grant  it  prove 
to  be — America's  insurance  against  future  wars  of 
invasion,  against  alien  arrogance  and  injustice, 
against  a  foreign  flag  over  this  land. 


FINIS 


310 


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